Northampton is “stuck in the slow lane” as Britain faces a broadband “postcode lottery” with dramatic variations in speed within towns and cities.
Despite the increasing availability of 4G, a new study suggests swathes of consumers are receiving huge differences in broadband quality with Britain’s second city, Birmingham, experiencing the worst variance with a difference of up to 89 per cent between the fastest and slowest.
Others “stuck in the slow lane” are Northampton, London, Bristol, and Glasgow, the study showed.
Data collected during more than 900,000 speed tests revealed the locations which benefit from the fastest speeds were not necessarily closest to city or town centres.
Marie-Louise Abretti, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, said: “Despite the Government’s intense focus on super-fast speeds, this data reveals massive inconsistencies, with speeds fluctuating dramatically between areas located just a few miles apart.
“Although a recent Ofcom report revealed that the UK’s average broadband speed has increased by a third in the last year, our data suggests that this isn’t the whole picture.”
Approximately 65 per cent of UK households can now benefit from fast broadband but many do not know it is available in their area, according to uSwitch.
An Ofcom spokesman said: “Ofcom’s research shows the average residential broadband speed has more than trebled in the last four years to 12Mbps.
“Internet providers are working to meet consumer demand through network upgrades and the launch of superfast packages, giving consumers faster speeds and greater choice.”
Speed tests were conducted in Britain’s 30 most densely populated post towns for the report between December and February.
:: Here are the 10 cities where broadband was found to vary the most between one area and another (figures from uSwitch):
1. Birmingham B42 - 20.9Mbps, B35 - 2.2 Mbps (89% variation)
2. Glasgow G22 - 20.5Mbps, G34 - 2.98 Mbps (85%)
3. Bristol BS14 - 21.44Mbps, BS40 - 4.06Mbps (81%)
4. Northampton NN2 - 17.78Mbps, NN7 - 3.93Mbps (78%)
5. London SE7 - 22.46Mbps, EC2Y - 5.3Mbps (76%)
6. Stoke-on-Trent ST2 - 18.86Mbps, ST114 - 4.64Mbps (75%)
7. Wolverhampton WV3 - 18.98Mbps, WV5 - 5.04Mbps (73%)
8. Leicester LE6 - 21.98Mbps, LE8 - 6.15Mbps (72%)
9. Liverpool L38 - 26.45Mbps, L1 - 7.75Mbps (71%)
10. Leeds LS4 - 23.38Mbps, LS10 - 6.92Mbps (70%)