Norwich ranked among 10 worst cities for broadband speeds, study finds
According to research released by comparison site uSwitch, Norwich has come seventh in the cities offering the slowest broadband speeds across the country. This has led several businesses and households in the city to worry they could be left behind, with the technological advances that are taking place.
The study found that Norwich has an average broadband speed of 19.43 Mbps over a six month period. While it was ahead of cities such as Sheffield, Milton Keynes and Hull, it was far behind the leading cities such as Brighton, Belfast, and Middlesbrough. The study found that between August 2015 and February 2016 Middlesbrough’s average broadband speed was 34.6 Mbps, nearly double that of Norwich.
The results of the survey have not come as a surprise to the people of Norwich. Nova Fairbank, assistant CEO for Norfolk’s Chamber of Commerce, commenting on the study results and said she wasn’t surprised: “The pace of change and the increasing need for fast, reliable connectivity of broadband is a key business issue - as every organisation needs to communicate with their customers.
“For Norfolk businesses to compete on a level playing field, both nationally and overseas, they need to have access to a reliable, superfast broadband service.”
In addition to the uSwitch study, a campaign comprised of leading internet service providers released statistics revealing one in four Britons are unhappy with their broadband speeds. The data also showed that 28 per cent of those surveyed had sworn loudly over broadband speeds, six per cent had hit their computer screen, and four per cent had cried. The campaign has urged the government to do more in terms of offering better broadband connectivity and speeds.
In response to the study and Fix Britain’s Internet campaign, the government said it has already pledged to bring superfast broadband of 24Mbps to 95 per cent of households and businesses next year. In addition, Ofcom, the regulatory body, suggested significant changes to how BT and Openreach’s relationship works. In a report, the main recommendations were to allow Openreach to have greater autonomy as well as its own board.
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(Image: Kings Sutton)
