Broadband shocker
The watchdog’s latest figures show that nearly 608,000 homes and businesses across Great Britain do not have access to a decent and affordable connection.
And, locally, the ‘Llanfyllin & Llanwddyn’ area sits in equal sixth alongside an area in West Devon with nearly one in three premises without a decent/affordable connection.
This is defined by the Government as a connection that can deliver 10 megabits per second (Mbit/s) download speed and 1 Mbit/s upload speed, and costs less than £45 per month.
Only a small proportion of people do not have access to a connection that meets these standards, only around 2% of Britain, but in Llanfyllin & Llanwddyn alone, 1,424 properties are missing out, amounting to 31.3% of all premises in that region.
Powys registers twice in the top 10 with Sennybridge & Talybont-on-Usk sitting in second spot with a whopping 40.4%.
The UK and the Welsh governments have made it one of their priorities to provide full connectivity to even the most rural corners of the country, but this latest Ofcom report shows there is a long way to go yet.
Their figures reveal the situation as it was January this year, so do not reflect any upgrades that have occurred since.
Overall, most people across Great Britain have superfast broadband available to them (94.6% of premises), while 54.2% of homes and businesses have ultrafast broadband available and 12.2% have full fibre.
However, 1.6 million homes and businesses are unable to receive 30 Mbit/s, including 489,248 of whom can’t receive 10 Mbit/s; 249,267 5 Mbit/s; and 90,891 not even 2 Mbit/s.
Selina Chadha, Ofcom’s Connectivity Director, said: “With many people needing to work and learn from home now, having a decent internet connection has never been more important.
“And while more people are being connected to faster broadband every day, there is more to do to bring all parts of the country up to speed – particularly rural areas.
“Anyone who cannot get a decent connection can now request one through the universal broadband service, so we encourage anyone in this situation to check if they are eligible for an upgrade.”
Wider area // Neighbourhood // Number of premises without a decent/affordable connection // % of total
The neighbourhoods with the worst broadband connections - excluding Scotland:
Braintree // Bures Hamlet, Maplestead & Belchamp // 1,193 // 41.9%
Powys // Sennybridge & Talybont-on-Usk // 1,217 // 40.4%
Torridge // Shebbear, Cookworthy & Broadheath // 1,189 // 35.0%
Forest of Dean // Dymock, Hartpury & Huntley // 1,415 // 33.8%
Monmouthshire // Rhaglan & Llantilio Crossenny // 1,058 // 33.2%
West Devon // Lifton, Lamerton & Bridestowe // 936 // 31.3%
Powys // Llanfyllin & Llanwyddyn // 1,424 // 31.3%
Colchester // West Bergholt & Wormingford // 874 // 30.7%
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