Urban and rural digital connectivity gap begins to narrow
I am sure this article speaks the truth but I’m with the CLA on the fact that things still don’t feel too good. Read below:
The gap between urban and rural broadband performance is narrowing, according to a new study by Ofcom, but campaigners say this is ‘just the start’ after years of poor connectivity.
Data shows that the 9% difference between the proportion of urban (74%) and rural (65%) home broadband lines, with an average evening peak-time speed of 30 Mbit/s or higher in March 2021, was lower than the 12% difference recorded in November 2019.
This comes as the availability and take-up of superfast, ultrafast and gigabit services have increased in rural areas of the country.
However, the difference between the March 2021 proportions of urban (5%) and rural (17%) broadband lines, with an average 8-10pm peak-time actual download speed of less than 10 Mbit/s (12pp), was unchanged since November 2019, when the respective urban and rural figures were 10% and 22%.
Although the difference between average urban and rural peak-time download speeds is declining, average peak-time download speeds in urban areas (55.1 Mbit/s) were still a third higher than those in rural areas (41.3 Mbit/s) in March 2021.
While the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) welcomed the figures as a step in the right direction, it warned the rural economy was still being held back by poor broadband.