Switchity Maps Ofcom’s Spring 2026 UK Full Fibre Broadband Coverage Data
Comparison service Switchity has taken Ofcom’s recently released Spring 2026 Connected Nations data report (our summary) and turned it into a simple but useful map of full fibre (FTTP) broadband coverage across the United Kingdom, including devolved constituencies (781 seats) and all 361 local authorities.
The interactive map also depicts current take-up levels and includes the regulator’s latest forecast for future full fibre coverage to January 2029, while at the same time highlighting the digital divide between coverage in urban and rural areas.
The catch is that they’ve only looked at full fibre coverage and not the broader definition of gigabit-capable broadband, which is what the government uses and would have delivered slightly higher figures (mostly due to the impact of Virgin Media’s older Hybrid Fibre Coax lines).
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Switchity’s UK Full Fibre Broadband Map
https://switchity.co.uk/broadband-areas/uk-broadband-divide/
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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I wonder what explains these huge adoption gaps in some areas. Southend has 98% coverage but only 16% take up. Crazy.
Perhaps VMO2 has a large base of HFC copper lines there? Where I am in Banbury, the areas that were fibred up 4 1/2 years ago have not got about 70% take up but we never had Virgin Media HFC.
There can be a few reasons for the gaps. One is strong alternative networks, such as VMO2 cable; these can substitute full fibre networks, or delay adoption. Another key reason is time; it takes a couple of years for users to migrate to a new network, so if the network has only been deployed recently, it will take time for users to move. There may also be the market strength of the ISPs; if it’s a local operator without a major national ISP, takeup may be lower.
For the ‘no decent BB’ would have been good to see this as a percentage. The figure for Highland is high, but it’s also a massive, but sparsely populated area, may though the western isles is worse
Some areas on the map have a “full breakdown” link, many don’t
the map is based on current local government boundaries so will “age” somewhat when the new unitaries are created in the forthcoming local government reorg
Isle of Wight does fairly well likely due to a locally strong alt-net (previously a cable TV provider)