Ofcom has last week published the Connected Nations report for 2024. This report measures progress on the availability of broadband and mobile services across England and the UK. This includes providing updates on the rollout of the full fibre, fixed wireless access and 5G mobile networks.

The report sets out the improvements in both broadband and mobile connectivity but rural still lags behind urban areas in coverage figures.

The report shows that Gigabit-capable broadband is available to 88% of urban premises in England, compared to 54% of rural premises.  

In addition, 7 in 10 in urban areas can access fibre compared to only 50% of those in rural areas. 

The report highlights the increasing take up of satellite broadband services particularly in harder to reach rural areas with the take up of customer connections almost doubling from Aug 23 to June 24.

In relation to mobile coverage, outdoor coverage has increased in rural areas of England from 91% to 94% over the last year, due to huge projects like the Shared Rural Network

The report states:

“Indoor coverage continues to vary between urban and rural areas. Indoor coverage in rural England ranges between 85% to 76% by operator, compared to 99% to 97% of urban areas in England. 97% of premises in rural areas can access indoor coverage from at least one MNO, with 56% being able to receive coverage from all four MNOs, representing an increase of 1 and 6 percentage points respectively.”

The Rural Services Network welcomes the improvements in both digital and mobile coverage and sets out in Delivering for Rural, the importance of connectivity for rural communities.

Kerry Booth, Chief Executive of the RSN says: “We live in a digital world, many services are digital by default leaving hard to reach areas without access to Gigabit broadband, or mobile connectivity isolated and devoid of public services. Lack of rural digital provision poses a huge constraint not only for economic growth but also for residents unable to access training, education, employment and public services.”

It is important that the Government continues to prioritise connectivity and ensuring that no area is left behind as the pace of technological change continues rapidly.