Councils Warn Digital Divide Holding Some Back in Broadband Slow Lane

The Local Government Association, which represents councils from across England and Wales, has published a “new” report that warns of how poorer households are being left behind in the “broadband slow lane“, with access to fixed broadband being 15 percentage points lower in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived.

The study, which also found that those in the most deprived areas used 46% more data than people in wealthier areas, notes that there has been important progress in closing the digital divide in the coverage of “superfast” (30Mbps+) and “decent” (10Mbps+) fixed broadband.

However, it also states that a new divide has emerged in gigabit and full fibre (FTTP) coverage. For example, it states that the top 10% of district/unitary local authority areas enjoy full fibre coverage of over 60%, while the bottom 10% have less than 10% of premises able to access these services. But take note that this report is using older data from September 2022.

Despite this, rural areas were found to have done “relatively well” in getting full fibre coverage so far, but they lag in terms of gigabit coverage. This partly reflects the fact that earlier state aid funded programmes (e.g. Phase 3 of BDUK’s Superfast Broadband Programme and various EU linked projects) helped to build a fair bit of initial FTTP in UK rural areas, much of which occurred before the main commercial builds really took off a few years ago.

Predominantly rural local authority areas were also found to lag predominantly urban areas by about 3 percentage points in full fibre coverage (38% versus 41%), but this grows to 47% versus 79% for gigabit coverage. The latter reflects the impact of Virgin Media’s older Hybrid Fibre Coax (HFC / DOCSIS) network, which covers around half of the UK (mostly urban areas) and was recently upgraded to support gigabit speeds.

Summary of Other Key Findings

➤ There are widening disparities in the actual speeds of users’ fixed broadband lines: average download speeds are now over 172 Mbps for the top 10% of output areas, but below 50 Mbps for the bottom 10%. The spread of average data usage is also widening.

➤ A disparity is increasingly apparent in the actual upload speeds of users’ fixed broadband lines. The highest average upload speeds are mostly in rural areas served by symmetric full fibre networks from B4RN and Gigaclear.

➤ There remains a persistent disadvantage for many areas in the mobile coverage from multiple operators. While the top 10% of district/unitary local authorities have more than 98% indoor 4G coverage of premises from all four operators, the bottom 10% have less than 62% such coverage. Furthermore, the areas with the best fixed broadband coverage tend also to have the best mobile coverage.

➤ Recent growth in total fixed broadband lines has been slower in areas with the best mobile coverage – suggesting that the improved speeds and data allowances available from mobile services (4G and 5G) have prompted some households to forego fixed broadband lines, and to rely on their mobile contracts for internet connectivity provided there is a reliable mobile signal. Prior to the pandemic, mobile substitution for fixed broadband was particularly marked in areas with poorer living environments.

➤ Average data usage over fixed broadband lines is strongly influenced by demographics: higher in areas with a large proportion of children in the population, and lower in areas where there are more people aged 65+.

➤ Fixed broadband penetration is positively correlated with economic activity and educational attainment. Each 10 percentage point increase in fixed broadband penetration is associated with a 4 percentage point increase in the economic activity rate and about 3 points in the average Attainment 8 score at Key Stage 4.

We should point out that the rollout of gigabit-capable fixed broadband technologies, specifically FTTP, is currently going at an extremely rapid pace (here) and being dominated by commercial operators that are naturally giving first preference to more economically viable urban areas. As such, it’s tricky to draw too many conclusions here because the picture is changing with every passing month, and it’s a similar story with 5G deployments.

Meanwhile, the Government supported £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project is working to extend geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025, while their £5bn Project Gigabit broadband rollout seeks to extend such networks to reach at least 85% of UK premises by the end of 2025 (the first 80%+ will be mostly done by commercial builds) and then “nationwide” coverage (c.99%) by around 2030 (here).

Nevertheless, the LGA has suggested that the government still needs a “refreshed strategy” to ensure that every part of the country can have gigabit-capable connections. On top of that, they’ve called for the appointment of a dedicated Digital Exclusion Minister, who should be given direct government responsibility for a new strategy to close the gap between areas.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Digital Connectivity Spokesperson for the LGA, said:

“The Government has pledged to give every home and business access to the fastest possible broadband, but this report demonstrates the digital divide is still holding some back in the broadband slow lane.

We need a complete refresh of the current digital inclusion strategy, which is nearly a decade old, with a minister in charge to oversee it and make sure no one is left behind.

Reliable access to high-quality fixed and mobile broadband means that you can boost your skills, grow a business and enhance your job prospects, while also playing a vital role in reducing social isolation by keeping people in touch with family and friends.

Councils want to make sure that, no matter which part of the country you live in or your circumstances, everyone can experience the transformational benefits that fast internet access can bring.”

Calling for a new strategy and the appointment of a Digital Exclusion Minister is one thing, but it doesn’t directly answer the question of what sort of practical changes would be needed in order to resolve the Digital Divide any faster than it is already being tackled.

We think giving the Building Digital UK programme more resources to help them speed up related contract procurements and voucher approvals, which can be very slow, would be a good start. On top of that, some local authorities have been very poor at approving planning permission for new mobile masts, which is another – albeit somewhat contentious – area that could do with more consideration.

At this point it’s also worth remembering that a lot of the government’s big digital infrastructure programmes, such as Project Gigabit, are now more centralised – partly to get around some of the delays that were seen with local authority managed programmes in the past. But this doesn’t work if the centralised alternatives can’t move in a way that is able to deliver at a decent pace.

In that sense, what the LGA may really be seeking here is a return, or partial return, to the past approach that would again put local authorities more in charge of digital infrastructure funding and build programmes for their areas. But we can’t see any major shifts happening on that front for a while, as to do so now might risk causing more delays in the build.