York sees biggest improvement in broadband speeds, claims survey
New research from comparethemarket.com reveals that York has seen the biggest improvement in broadband speeds over the last twelve months.
The research analysed the average broadband speed for locations around the UK from 2020, including all London boroughs, to discover where internet connectivity has improved the most in the last year. As well as revealing where the biggest improvements have been made, the research also identified the areas where broadband falls below Universal Service Obligation (USO) standards.
York was revealed as the UK destination which has seen the biggest improvement in download speeds, increasing from 56.1 Mbit/s in 2019 by 91 Mbit/s to 147.1 Mbit/s in 2020. It was followed by Kingston upon Hull (improvement of 31.6 Mbit/s) and Peterborough (20.6 Mbit/s increase in speed).
Of all the speeds recorded, Kingston upon Hull (163Mbit/s), York (147.1Mbit/s) and West Dunbartonshire (105.3Mbit/s) take the top three places. Kingston upon Hull has consistently maintained high speeds.
In London, each borough saw an improvement in download speeds compared to 2019, with Barking and Dagenham seeing the biggest improvement in download speeds, with increasing speeds of 14.9 Mbit/s since 2019. Of all the boroughs in London, Richmond upon Thames has been recorded as having the fastest average speed, nearly reaching 100 Mbit/s.
This was followed by Kingston upon Thames (93.2 Mbit/s) and Waltham Forest (90.3 Mbit/s).
When it comes to slowest speeds recorded, the Orkney Islands (33.2Mbit/s), Shetland Islands (34.7Mbit/s) and West Devon (36.9Mbit/s) were the worst three places in the country. In fact, the Orkney Islands have consistently recorded the lowest average speeds for the past three years.
Says Holly Niblett, head of digital at comparethemarket.com:
“With the UK back in lockdown, internet connectivity is more important than ever, whether it be for working from home or streaming movies and TV shows. While it is encouraging that broadband speed has improved in some parts of the country, there is still some way to go.
“Whilst the government recently pledged to increase broadband infrastructure spending, there are still hundreds of thousands of homes without decent broadband and the vast majority of these are in remote areas. With a significant number of people now working from home, lack of connectivity could be a serious cause for concern.
The research can be seen in full here: https://www.comparethemarket.com/broadband/content/british-broadband-index/
| Rank | Name | County | 2019 Average download speed (mbit/s) | 2020 Average download (mbit/s) | Average download speed improvement (mbit/s) |
| 1 | York | North Yorkshire | 56.1 | 147.1 | 91 |
| 2 | Kingston upon Hull | East Riding of Yorkshire | 131.4 | 163 | 31.6 |
| 3 | Peterborough | Cambridgeshire | 77.8 | 98.4 | 20.6 |
| 4 | Stockton-on-Tees | County Durham | 82.1 | 100.3 | 18.2 |
| 5 | Middlesbrough | North Yorkshire | 80.1 | 98.1 | 18 |
The top five areas with the quickest download speeds in 2020
| Rank | Name | County | 2020 Average download (Mbit/s) |
| 1 | Kingston upon Hull | East Riding of Yorkshire | 163 |
| 2 | York | North Yorkshire | 147.1 |
| 3 | West Dunbartonshire | West Dunbartonshire | 105.3 |
| 4 | Corby | Northamptonshire | 104.4 |
| 5 | North East Lincolnshire | Lincolnshire | 104.2 |
The top five areas with the slowest download speeds in 2020
| Rank | Name | County | 2020 Average download (Mbit/s) |
| 1 | Orkney Islands | Orkney Islands | 33.2 |
| 2 | Shetland Islands | Shetland Islands | 34.7 |
| 3 | West Devon | Devon | 36.9 |
| 4 | Highland | Highland | 37 |
| 5 | Mid Devon | Devon | 37.2 |
London broadband
The top five London boroughs with the biggest broadband improvements
| Rank | Borough | Average download speed improvement 2019/2020 (Mbit/s) |
| 1 | Barking and Dagenham | 14.9 |
| 2 | Waltham Forest | 14.5 |
| 3 | Newham | 14.4 |
| 4 | Enfield | 13.5 |
| 5 | Redbridge | 13.1 |
The top five London boroughs with the quickest download speeds in 2020
| Rank | Borough | 2020 Average download (Mbit/s) |
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames | 94 |
| 2 | Kingston upon Thames | 93.2 |
| 3 | Waltham Forest | 90.3 |
| 4 | Merton | 90.2 |
| 5 | Sutton | 90.1 |
The top five London boroughs with the slowest download speeds in 2020
| Rank | Borough | 2020 Average download (Mbit/s) |
| 1 | City of London | 31.6 |
| 2 | Westminster | 45.3 |
| 3 | Tower Hamlets | 53.7 |
| 4 | Hammersmith and Fulham | 58.5 |
| 5 | Southwark | 64.8 |
