A new study from uSwitch has used data from 1.68 million internet speedtests (conducted over the past 6 months) to conclude that the average broadband download speed for UK ISP customers is 6.742Mbps (Megabits per second), which is below the recent figure of 7.6Mbps recorded by Ofcom (here).

The survey breaks this data down to claim that 34% of the UK receives an average speed of 5Mbps or less, 23% get 4Mbps or less and 1 in 10 receives 3Mbps or less. Curiously the study claims that this is "six times slower than even the basic super-fast broadband speed of 20Mbps", which is incorrect because the UK government defines "superfast" as "at least 24Mbps" (details).

Sadly Hereford (Herefordshire), which is home to around 55,000 people, was found to have the slowest average broadband speed of any large town/city in the UK (3.196Mbps). Meanwhile the village of Winchelsea (East Sussex) was named as the "slowest postcode in the UK" with just 1.11Mbps.

The UK's Slowest Large Towns and Cities (Populations of 40,000+)
* Hereford, HR1-4 (Population 55,800) - 3.196Mbps
* Kilmarnock, KA1-3 (Population 44,734) - 3.218Mbps
* Carlisle, CA1-6 (Population 71,773) - 3.240Mbps
* Dumfries, DG1-2 (Population 43,009) - 3.604Mbps
* Canterbury, CT1-4 (Population 43,432) - 4.013Mbps
* Shrewsbury, SY1-3 (Population 70,689) - 4.089Mbps
* Lancaster, LA1 (Population 133,914) - 5.479Mbps
* Chester, CH1-4 (Population 118,600) - 6.052Mbps

The UK's Worst (Slowest) Broadband Blackspots
* Winchelsea (East Sussex, England) - 1.110Mbps
* Menstrie (Clackmannanshire, Scotland) - 1.235Mbps
* Askam in Furness (Cumbria, England) - 1.252Mbps
* St Bees (Cumbria, England) - 1.381Mbps
* Ripley (Surrey, England) - 1.518Mbps
* Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (Northumberland, England) - 1.612Mbps
* Pembroke (Pembrokeshire, Wales) - 1.657Mbps
* Johnstone (Renfrewshire, Scotland) - 1.806Mbps
* Lampeter (Ceredigion, Wales) - 1.806Mbps
* Watchet (Somerset, England) - 1.868Mbps
* Haverfordwest (Pembrokeshire, Wales) - 1.906Mbps
* Splisby (Lincolnshire, England) - 2.037Mbps
* Richmond (North Yorkshire, England) - 2.047Mbps
* Helmsley (North Yorkshire, England) - 2.133Mbps
* Stanhope (County Durham, England) - 2.227Mbps

In reality the slowest towns and villages are actually those that lack any broadband connectivity at all, not to mention that many of the smallest areas probably wouldn't even appear in the above table (due to a lack of speedtest data).

But the study does show that the UK government still has a long way to go in its efforts to ensure that 90% of the country can access a superfast broadband (24Mbps+) service by 2015. Even if that goal is achieved then it will still take several years for consumers to migrate.