UKCheapBroadband Comments on Britain’s Digital Divide

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Point Topic, a Broadband analyst firm, has released a report that shows a strong divide in broadband penetration, finding that of the 68 cities, districts and towns with high penetration are almost exclusively located in the south of the country. Meanwhile, the north has large spots where penetration is either low or very low.

London and towns like Bristol, Plymouth and Southampton have seen above average penetration, while while Northern Island and the Midlands have seen the worst take-up.

17.3% of the country live in an area where broadband take up is very high or high, while only 8.8% live in low or very low areas, despite these areas being geographically much larger. As expected, this shows penetration is heavily linked with living too far from an exchange.

Although options like satellite and mobile broadband exist for those without access to a normal connection, these are still very expensive compared to fixed line, ADSL broadband. Many people in areas that are not supplied by an exchange cannot afford these costs.

Charles Mcfey, Product Director at ukcheapbroadband.com says:

“This research might not be that surprising for anyone that has been following the ‘Digital Britain’ news stories or is already aware of the problems the UK faces with broadband penetration.

The most interesting thing highlighted here is how the Scottish governments approach to broadband has provided the country with a much more even level of broadband take-up.

Although Scotland might not face the same economic issues as the UK, its geographical problems are very similar, and these have been solved by having more exchanges per head of population – sometimes just serving single, small communities.

Investment has also been strong in Scotland, and the government has spent millions to improve services already.

Hopefully in the coming years we’ll see a similar level of investment in England, although right now the governments focus on providing speed rather than value or reliability is a worrying one."

About UKCheapBroadband.com:

UKCheapBroadband prides itself on offering free and impartial advice and information on all broadband services available in the UK, enabling UK visitors to compare broadband services easily.

UKCheapBroadband searches thousands of different packages and internet service providers to ensure that consumers have a full range of choice at their fingertips. As an independent source, UKCheapBroadband prides itself on its transparency and fairness.

As well as providing broadband comparison features UKCheapBroadband also runs a successful broadband magazine keeping users up to date with the latest deals and news and plays host to hundreds of guides explaining all aspects of broadband technology and purchasing.

For more information visit: http://www.ukcheapbroadband.com

For further information please contact:

Rob Clarke – http://ukcheapbroadband.com – 02081441319- rob@ukcheapbroadband.com