The need for broadband speed
Updated on 08 January 2009
Ofcom backs up a Channel 4 News report that customers are not getting the broadband speeds they pay for. Benjamin Cohen reports.
Most of us are signed up for a broadband internet connection of up to 8 megabits.
But an official report by the telecoms regulator Ofcom has today backed up the findings of a Channel 4 News investigation last year.
It found that customers are getting average speeds of just 45 per cent of the advertised maximum.
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How to check your broadband speed
Now its survey of 1,500 homes has found the average broadband speed in the UK is 3.6Mbps (megabits per second), despite the fact that 60 per cent of consumers are signed up to ISP packages which offer "up to 8Mbps" per second.
It also found that one in five subscribers receive an average speed of less than 2Mbps per second.
Across the UK, speeds were slowest between 5pm and 6pm on Sundays, when use of the internet is at its highest.
Ed Richards, Ofcom's chief executive, said: "Our research is one of the most comprehensive assessments of consumers' broadband experiences to date.
"We would like to see all ISPs doing more to meet the needs of their customers by clearly explaining what speeds they should expect and by ensuring that their networks meet consumers' increasing demand for higher speed broadband."
Ofcom found that the problem of slow broadband speeds was particularly acute in rural areas.
Our initial survey last year of 18 ISPs found that O2 Broadband provided an average of 5.8Mbps, BT Broadband 3.44Mbps, Orange Broadband 3.26Mbps, and Toucan Broadband 2.21Mbps. ISPs challenged the accuracy of these figures.
Research shows how DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) broadband speeds depend in part on distance from the local BT exchange.
Experts say that soaring visitor numbers to video websites such as YouTube and BBC iPlayer are clogging up the internet and pushing it towards gridlock.
