INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesThree million homes in the UK can now access full-fibre broadband, offering speeds of up to one gigabit per
second.That's a sharp rise from this time last year when just 1.6 million households could get those speeds.But there are still 155,000
rural homes that are unable to get a decent internet service, according to Ofcom's latest report.The government has pledged £5bn to support
the rollout of gigabit-capable broadband to such areas.It has also indicated that it will introduce laws to accelerate the delivery of
full-fibre broadband across the UK, but without a specific timetable.There are three main types of broadband connection that link the local
telephone exchange to your home or office:ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) uses copper cables to a street-level cabinet or junction
box and on to the houseFTTC (fibre to the cabinet) uses a faster fibre-optic cable to the cabinet, but then copper cable from there to the
houseFTTP (fibre to the premises or full-fibre) uses a fibre-optic cable to connect to households without using any copper cableAccording to
Ofcom's Connected Nations report:95% of homes can access superfast broadband, with speeds of at least 30Mbps (megabits per second) more than
half of homes (53%) can get ultrafast broadband, defined as download speeds of at least 300Mbps (megabits per second)around 10% can get
full-fibre speeds, up to 1Gbps (gigabits per second)Northern Ireland has the highest full-fibre speeds of any UK nation, with nearly a third
of homes able to receive itCurrently 155,000 UK properties are unable to get decent broadband, defined as a download speed of at least
10MbpsYih-Choung Teh, strategy and research group director at Ofcom, said: "This year we've seen full-fibre broadband grow at its fastest
ever rate, and all four mobile networks launch 5G."But despite this good progress, there is more to do to bring all parts of the country up
to speed - particularly rural areas
So we're working with industry and the government to help bring better services to people who need them."The average cost of a full-fibre
connection is £38.75 per month, according to comparison website uSwitch
This compares to an average of £25 per month for a connection up to 60Mbps, a speed which would be perfectly adequate for most current home
use."As end-of-term report cards go, this is probably about as good as you can hope for," said Matthew Howett, founder of Assembly
Research."The leap in the availability of full-fibre shows just how serious operators are in making up for lost time and how, with the right
regulatory and political environment, they can go even further
"Next year will be crucial for determining what that pace of rollout looks like as Ofcom is due to set out the rules for how such networks
will be regulated for the next five years."Comparison pricing site uSwitch said there was still "a long way to go" before one gigabit
broadband was available to all."We are waiting to see concrete plans for how the government is going to achieve its goal of full-fibre for
all, but striking the right balance between rolling it out quickly and keeping the cost to consumers down will be the real challenge."While
Ofcom reports that 95% of the country can access superfast broadband, only 54% of consumers are currently using a fibre connection."Millions
of consumers that are still using ADSL broadband could upgrade to a superfast connection, it added.
