The Top 30 UK Local Authorities for “Full Fibre” FTTP Broadband Cover

A new batch of independent data has revealed the top 30 local authorities across the United Kingdom with the highest availability of ultrafast “full fibre” (FTTP/H/B) broadband connectivity, which unsurprisingly sees the table topped by Hull, East Yorkshire and Cornwall.

The data, which was been produced by Thinkbroadband, shows that Hull and East Yorkshire have the most coverage in the UK, which are both as a direct result of KCOM’s on-going Lightstream roll-out that is dominated by their ultrafast Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. Earlier this week we posted our annual summary of FTTH/P/B progress and noted that KCOM’s network has been deployed to 132,500 premises.

Gary Young, KCOM’s Executive Vice President, said:

“It may take a little longer to roll out across all areas of our Hull and East Yorkshire network, but these latest figures demonstrate that our £60m-plus investment is really beginning to pay off – not only for residents with ultrafast broadband speeds but for local businesses too.

The fact that 55.6 per cent of our Hull network and 36.6 per cent of our East Riding network is already benefiting from full fibre, compared to just 2.66 per cent nationally, shows just how far ahead of the curve we are. This is how we are transforming the region into the UK’s digital and ultrafast capital, playing our part in making this area a magnet for high-value, cutting-edge industry.

By the end of 2017, Lightstream will be available to at least 150,000 properties, equal to 75 per cent of KCOM’s overall network in Hull and East Yorkshire.”

Similarly it’s no surprise to find that Cornwall is also near the top, which is thanks largely to Openreach’s huge FTTP deployment in the county (c.85,000 premises). Elsewhere many of the other areas have been boosted by similar roll-outs from Gigaclear, Hyperoptic, B4RN and other “full fibre” providers. For example, Cityfibre’s joint FTTP deployment alongside Sky Broadband and TalkTalk in York (c.20,000 premises) has clearly had an impact.

As we said earlier in the week, nearly all of the major FTTP/H providers have announced major expansion plans for the future and as a result the availability of related services is set to rise significantly over the next few years. Most of those deployments will admittedly be in urban areas, although Gigaclear, B4RN, Openreach and others are also doing a lot of rural deployments too.