GoFibre Quirkily Compares its UK Rural Broadband Speeds to Major World Cities

Edinburgh-based UK alternative network ISP GoFibre has today published the results of a new study, which reveals how well (download speed) their new full fibre (FTTP) broadband network – present in parts of remote rural Scotland and Northern England – compares with a selection of major world cities. It’s interesting, if a bit on the random side.

Just to recap, GoFibre is currently busy rolling out their gigabit-capable broadband network across rural parts of Scotland, the Scottish Borders areas and also Northumberland in England. The operator has so far managed to build their network to cover over 120,000 premises (RFS) across 40 “local areas” and today’s focus is on how that compares with a bunch of international cities.

Citing research from the Ookla’s Speed Test Global Index, as well as a couple of other studies and their own data, the operator has today attempted to “shine a spotlight on the lightning fast speeds” available on their new network by comparing its performance with some of the world’s major cities, which they say are “lagging behind when it comes to broadband speeds“.

However, we should stress that country to country comparisons like this are often rather simplistic and don’t offer a detailed picture of each local market, where different geographies, network maturity, regulation, consumer adoption, underlying infrastructure and levels of investment or competition may have a significant role to play. Not to mention any differences between testing methodologies (e.g. it’s unclear if all the results are using a ‘median’ or ‘mean’ average, but Ookla’s are usually median). Suffice to say it’s a bit of a random study, but if you want to know the results then they’re below. Just take with a pinch of salt.

Neil Conaghan, CEO of GoFibre, said:

“While our new campaign is having a bit of fun with some very famous cities, it has a serious message too; it’s about empowering people and places to realise their full potential.

Our rural areas can be better connected even than international capitals, and that’s a great thing for everyone – whether you’re running a business, working from home, studying, getting through your admin or even gaming. It’s time we took advantage of the speeds at our fingertips.

We’re proud to see our cutting-edge technology help smaller towns to outpace some of the world’s leading cities, ensuring that local businesses can compete on a global stage and families can enjoy seamless online experiences.

We encourage anyone not yet signed up to GoFibre to check if you’re eligible – we can’t promise you a cycle and canal network like Copenhagen’s, but our broadband network leaves the Scandis standing!”