A fibre network connection is now available to 69% or more than 20 of the 30 million households in the United Kingdom. That is an increase of 12 percentage points in a year. However, the actual adoption of full-fibre connections is much lower, at 35% of preemises where it is available or 23% of all premises in the country.
Residential premises in urban areas are more likely to have full-fibre coverage available than in rural areas, at 71% and 52%, respectively. That works out at 18.5 million homes in urban areas compared to 2.2 million in rural areas.
Residential coverage of fibre networks in England is 69% overall but it is much less in Scotland at 62% of premises and much higher in Northern Ireland at 93%.
The coverage of gigabit-capable broadband networks, including hybrid fibre coaxial cable, has grown to reach 83% or 25 million residential premises. The government target it to reach 85% coverage by 2025.
The adoption of full-fibre networks is much lower. The take-up of services on full-fibre networks where available has risen to 35% or 7.5 million premises as of July 2024.
Take-up of full fibre is notably higher in rural areas than in urban areas. Of premises with full fibre access, 52% of premises in rural areas have taken full fibre, compared to 32% in urban areas.
As a proportion of all premises in the United Kingdom, take-up of a full-fibre connection is now 23%.
The take-up of broadband services with download speeds of at least 30 megabits per second at residential and business premises across the UK has increased from 72% to 75%. This meets a statutory threshold for Government to ask Ofcom to review specific aspects of the broadband universal service obligation.
The percentage of premises without access to what is described as a ‘decent’ connection of more than 10 gigabits per second downstream from a fixed-line connection is estimated to be 1% or around 385,000 premises. Many of these could theoretically receive a fixed wireless service, leaving an estimated 58,000 that could not.
The network numbers come from research published by the communications regulator Ofcom. They are of significance for any long-term transition to internet delivery of television services. While a fibre connection is not necessarily a requirement for this, it is notable that less than a quarter of homes across the United Kingdom currently have one.
The Connected Nations report is published by the communications regulator Ofcom and is available from its web site.