Broadband Impact
There is literally nothing more frustrating than when you’re about to get to the next level on a game, and … the internet crashes.
With the new Nintendo Switch and FIFA 22 both recently released, and lots of us searching for where we can buy the PlayStation 5, it looks like we’re all going to turn into a nation of gamers over the winter months. Therefore, the last thing we’ll want is for the quality of our gaming to be impacted by poor broadband.
That’s why we’ve decided to crunch the data and discover the best (and bottom) places in the UK for broadband, based on average speed (Mbps), the percentage of people able to access superfast broadband, and the percentage who can’t access decent broadband at all.
Hull is a gamer’s paradise
In first place is Kingston Upon Hull East, closely followed by Kingston Upon Hull North, with 98.9% and 98% able to receive superfast broadband respectively. In the East of Hull, every single person has access to decent broadband speeds. Interestingly, Kingston Upon Hull West and Hessle placed in fourth, meaning that Hull could be a gamer’s paradise.
Birmingham (Hall Green and Hodge Hill) makes up positions three and five, with Selly Oak and Yardley also in the top 10.
Welwyn Hatfield and St. Albans are the top places for broadband in the East of England, and York Outer and Central take places eight and nine.
Na h-Eileanan an Iar is the worst place for gaming
In contrast, the worst place for gamers is Na h-Eileanan an Iar in Scotland, with just 75.3% of people able to receive superfast broadband – and 10.8% of people living there unable to access decent broadband at all.
Orkney and Shetland have come second from bottom, with the lowest percentage of people able to access superfast broadband (67%). In fact, only places in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland feature in the bottom 10 places – likely due to the remoteness of some of these locations.
West Tyrone is the least best place in Northern Ireland for gamers, with 7.3% of people unable to access decent broadband; and Brecon and Radnorshire bottom in Wales.
Brought to you by the broadband experts at comparethemarket.com.
Methodology
The figures analysed to reveal today’s least and best locations were taken from the following report, published September 2021 https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/constituency-data-broadband-coverage-and-speeds/.
We analysed average broadband download speed, superfast broadband availability, and access to decent broadband data.
To calculate the index, we first normalised the data categories individually from 0 to 1 and then summed the results.
Average broadband download speed: Speeds actually being received in June 2020 based on the mean average. This may reflect consumer choice, as well as line quality, since users sometimes have access to packages offering higher speeds than those they are actually receiving.
Superfast broadband availability: The percentage of lines that were capable of receiving download speeds of at least 30 Mbps in May 2021. Superfast availability doesn’t mean that all lines are actually receiving superfast speeds, because this often requires consumers to subscribe to specific packages.
Unable to receive decent broadband: Premises below the Universal Service Obligation in May 2021 - those unable to receive 10 Mbps download speed or 1 Mbps upload speed, which Ofcom regards as necessary components of ‘decent broadband’.
