Nations reports

What we have found

Broadband

• Full-fibre networks are now accessible at more than half of England’s residential premises (56%), a sharp increase from 41% last year.
• Gigabit-capable broadband is now available at more than three-quarters (78%) of England’s residential premises, up from 71% last year.
• Take-up of services on full-fibre networks has increased. Take-up of services where full fibre is available, is around 27% in England. This is an increase of two percentage points from last year.
• Superfast broadband coverage remains high and is available at 98% of residential premises in England. Take-up of superfast broadband from fixed lines is now at 75% of premises where it is available in both England and in the UK as a whole.
• The number of premises without access to decent broadband has fallen. We estimate around 0.1% of all premises in England do not have access to decent broadband through a fixed line or fixed wireless connection.

Mobile

• 4G mobile network coverage is broadly available. Coverage for data services from at least one MNOs reaches 98% of England’s landmass and 4G continues to carry the majority of mobile data traffic (accounting for 81% of total data traffic in the UK).
• The availability of 5G services is growing rapidly. In England, the percentage of premises that can now receive 5G outdoor coverage from at least one MNO ranges from 87% at the Very High Confidence level to 94% at the High Confidence level.1 This constitutes 17 and 13 percentage point increases respectively, demonstrating the pace of rollout over the last year.

Connected Nations 2023: England (PDF, 1.6 MB)

What we have found

Broadband

• More than 747,000 homes in Northern Ireland now have access to full-fibre broadband connections; over 51,000 more than last year. These connections can deliver much higher download speeds than older, copper-based broadband. Among the four UK nations, Northern Ireland (91%) has the highest availability of full-fibre networks, compared to England (56%), Scotland (53%) and Wales (55%). Northern Ireland’s fullfibre position is a result of a combination of significant early commercial rollout and publicly funded schemes designed to improve broadband in rural areas.
• Superfast broadband from fixed lines (at least 30 Mbit/s) is available to 98% of residential premises in Northern Ireland, four percentage points higher than last year.
• Take-up of services on full-fibre networks by residential and business customers is rising. There was an increase of 14 percentage points, from 25% reported last year to 39% this year, in take-up as a proportion of premises where full fibre is available.
• Average broadband download speeds in Northern Ireland have increased by 50% to 173 Mbit/s, up from 115 Mbit/s in 2022, and reflects increasing availability and take-up of faster broadband services. Average download speeds are lower in rural areas but have increased to 120 Mbit/s in 2023, compared to 68 Mbit/s in 2022.
• Average monthly broadband data use in Northern Ireland has increased to 568 GB per connection in 2023, 18% higher than in 2022.

Mobile

• 5G availability is gathering pace. A notable increase in 5G coverage has been observed across Northern Ireland in 2023 and now stands at 80% (High Confidence) and 70% (Very High Confidence), up from 44% and 37% respectively in 2022, for areas outside of premises where at least one mobile network operator (MNO) provides coverage.
• 4G coverage continues to provide the backbone of mobile experience for consumers. Individual operators provide good 4G coverage across Northern Ireland, with geographic mobile coverage ranging from 88-92%, depending on the operator. Coverage from all four operators is available across 81% of Northern Ireland, unchanged from last year.
• Voice calls are available across 90-98% of Northern Ireland, depending on the operator, 1pp higher at the lower end of the range compared to a year ago. While coverage from all operators is available across 88% of Northern Ireland, 1pp higher than 2022.

Connected Nations 2023: Northern Ireland (PDF, 1.5 MB)

What we have found

Broadband

• Rollout of full-fibre and gigabit-capable coverage continues to expand across Scotland. Full fibre is now available to 1.4 million (53%) of residential premises in Scotland, an increase of 13 percentage points from 2022. Gigabit-capable broadband is also now available at 1.9 million (72%) of residential premises, an increase of eight percentage points.
• Take-up of services on full-fibre networks is also rising in Scotland. While take-up lags growth in coverage, we estimate that, where available, the take-up of services on fullfibre networks in Scotland is around 28%, up five percentage points from 2022.
• Superfast broadband coverage remains widespread. Speeds of 30 Mbit/s are available to 95% (2.6 million) of residential premises in Scotland, an increase of one percentage point (47,000) compared to last year.
• Access to decent broadband has once again increased. Factoring in coverage from fixed and fixed wireless networks, there are around 18,000 (0.6%) premises in Scotland that are still without a decent broadband connection, down from 21,000 in 2022.
• Average monthly data use over fixed networks has grown to 542 GB per connection in Scotland, compared to 482 GB last year. This is above the UK average of 535 GB per connection.

Mobile

• The availability of 5G services continues to grow at pace. The level of coverage provided outside of premises from individual MNOs in Scotland now stands at 39-70% (based on our High Confidence level) – up from 29-51% in 2022. Scotland has the second highest 5G coverage levels of the four UK nations.
• 4G continues to underpin the mobile experience in Scotland. There has been a small but notable increase in 4G geographic coverage of Scotland’s landmass, with 84% having coverage from at least one MNO (up from 83% in 2022) and 48% with coverage from all four operators (up from 46% in 2022).
• Programmes to enhance mobile connectivity in rural Scotland are making progress. The Shared Rural Network is starting to extend coverage to more rural communities across the country, while the Scottish Government 4G Infill Programme is nearing completion, with 54 of the 55 mast sites activated and providing enhanced mobile connectivity.
• There continues to be a high and improving level of 4G outdoor premises coverage in Scotland. Individual MNO coverage ranges between 98-99+%, and from 90-98% for rural areas.
• The switch-off of 3G networks in Scotland is underway. Vodafone commenced its switch-off of 3G services in Glasgow in July 2023. 3G will be switched-off by all MNOs across Scotland in the coming years. This will result in improved network efficiency and enable more spectrum to be used for 4G and 5G services.

Connected Nations 2023: Scotland (PDF, 1.7 MB)

What we have found

Broadband

• Access to full-fibre networks continues to grow in Wales, with coverage now above the halfway mark. Full fibre is now available to 55% or 798,000 residential premises, which is slightly below the UK average of 57%.
• Take-up of services on residential full-fibre networks has risen over the last year. There was an increase of three percentage points, from 28% reported last year to 31% this year in take-up of services on full-fibre networks. This equates to 239,000 total full-fibre connections in Wales.
• Superfast coverage in Wales is up marginally from 95% last year to 96% this year. Availability of superfast coverage in rural areas lags behind urban areas. Take-up of superfast from fixed lines is now at 73% of residential premises where it is available, up from 71% last year.
• The number of premises that still cannot access decent broadband from fixed line or fixed wireless networks has fallen to around 8,000 premises in Wales. We estimate that around 1,000 of these premises will be connected via publicly funded schemes by September 2024, leaving less than 7,000 premises without decent broadband coverage.
• In Wales, 93% of customers can access a fixed wireless access (FWA) service from a mobile network operator (MNO), while 31% can access FWA from a wireless internet service provider (WISP). This is a very high proportion compared to the rest of the UK, where only 7% premises on average have FWA coverage from WISPs.

Mobile

• The deployment of 5G networks is gathering pace. 5G coverage outside of premises in Wales from individual mobile operators ranges from 11-69% across the four MNOs (based on our High Confidence measure).
• 4G geographic coverage from all four operators has remained stable in Wales at 62%. 4G coverage in Wales from individual MNOs ranges from 73-85%, depending on the operator.
• There continues to be a high level of 4G outdoor premises coverage in Wales with 94% of premises having outdoor 4G coverage from all four operators, compared with 98% across the UK.

Connected Nations 2023: Wales (PDF, 1.6 MB)

Cysylltu'r Gwledydd 2023: Cymru (PDF, 1.4 MB)