Broadband News

• UK consumers on average receive a maximum speed of 4.3Mbit/s


• Customers with an ‘up to 8Mbit/s’ package received, on average, a speed of 3.6Mbit/s


• Consumers living in urban areas receive speeds which are on average 15% faster than those in rural areas

As described by Ofcom, these findings are the result of the most sophisticated and thorough research programme undertaken into the real broadband speeds experienced by UK consumers. As Ofcom's Technical Partner in the Project, SamKnows developed and funded the technical infrastructure, collated the research data and provided analysis to Ofcom. The Panel of Participants was sourced and managed by market research company GfK.

Over a 30-day period approximately 7,000 tests were run through monitoring units connected to around 1,500 homes' broadband routers, resulting in over 10 million separate tests.

» Download the Ofcom report (PDF, 264k)

Broadband has firmly established itself as the lifeblood of UK business, and is increasingly close to the hearts of the UK's consumers too. But with the rash of scare stories regarding bandwidth crunch, regular industry debates regarding promised and experienced speeds as well as performance concerns, how to accurately measure and regulate services remains a concern for regulators, Internet service providers and users alike.

In an attempt to address these concerns, SamKnows originally set out to create a standard methodology for comparing broadband providers based on actual performance data.

Alex Salter, Chairman of SamKnows, comments: "We are delighted that Ofcom has adopted the SamKnows methodology for benchmarking broadband providers. Accurate information about broadband performance will be vital for consumers looking to get the most out of the next generation media now available over their broadband connections. We are now looking to extend our research to incorporate audience data to allow media companies and providers to better assess and meet consumer demand for new services."

For further information or to speak with SamKnows please contact:

Rebecca Honeyman, Hotwire, T: 020 7608 2500