Telecommunication in the United Kingdom

Development of telephone and internet connections

With an average download speed of 71.14 Mbit/second for fixed-network broadband internet, the United Kingdom ranks 56th in an international comparison. The upload rate of only 19.67 Mbit/second was significantly lower (89th place).
In mobile internet, i.e., on tablets and smartphones, the United Kingdom comes 40th with a download speed of 49.13 Mbit/second. The upload speed of around 7 Mbit was only enough for 121st place.

The Speedtest Global Index published regularly by Ookla is based on several million individual measurements in December 2022 from 178 countries.

The following diagrams show the development of the various telephone and internet connections as a percentage of the country's population. Values above 100 percent mean that, on average, every inhabitant has more than one connection.

Access to the internet in the United Kingdom from 1990 - 2020

Broadband internet in the United Kingdom 2000 - 2021

The expansion of broadband internet in the United Kingdom is roughly on a par with the USA. Around 95 percent of all residents have access to the internet. Around 41 percent have their own fast internet connection, which is at least faster than the former ISDN (more than 256 kbit/s). All fixed connections via DSL, cable or satellite were counted here, but not those connected to the internet via mobile communications. With around 2.3 people per household, this means that around 94.8 percent of all households are equipped with a high-speed internet connection.