The five-minute version
The headline findings from the latest Ofcom data, in plain English. Every figure below is reproducible from the dataset linked in the methodology.
Full fibre now passes 82% of premises, yet only 38% have taken it. That 44-point adoption gap is now the real story, not coverage.
Kingston upon Hull, City of leads on 100% full-fibre availability; Na h-Eileanan Siar sits at just 12%, a 88-point local-authority gap.
96% of NI premises can get full fibre and 59% have taken it, the highest coverage and take-up in the UK.
Across the UK, 84% of urban premises can get full fibre versus 66% of rural ones. It's the geography of the divide in one number.
Even with near-universal coverage, hundreds of thousands of premises, concentrated in rural Scotland and Wales, can't yet get a decent fixed or fixed-wireless connection.
Operators' build plans would take UK full-fibre availability to 92% by January 2029, on Ofcom's projections, though the last few percent are the hardest and least certain.
The map of the divide
Every UK local authority, shaded by full-fibre coverage. Switch the metric to see what's planned by 2029, where the adoption gap is widest, or which areas still can't get a decent connection.
Share of premises that can order a full-fibre connection today.
- < 50%
- 50%–70%
- 70%–85%
- 85%–95%
- 95%+
- No data
Hover or tap an area for the figure. Northern Ireland is mapped to the British National Grid alongside Great Britain.
How the four nations compare
Full fibre, gigabit, superfast, take-up and the share of premises that can't get decent broadband, for each UK nation, with the UK as a reference row. Sort by any metric to surface a different angle.
The urban–rural fibre gap
Full-fibre availability for town-and-city premises versus rural ones, in each UK nation. The bar pair shows how far rural homes still trail.
UK
19pp urban–rural gapEngland
19pp urban–rural gapScotland
25pp urban–rural gapWales
23pp urban–rural gapNorthern Ireland
5pp urban–rural gapSource: Ofcom Connected Nations · January 2026
The adoption gap: availability vs take-up
Each dot is a local authority. Right = more full-fibre availability; up = more homes actually subscribed. The dashed line is where take-up would match availability. Almost everywhere sits well below it. Filter by nation; tap a dot to pin it.
Best for full fibre
Ranked by the share of premises that can order a full-fibre (FTTP) connection.
| # | Area | Nation | Full fibre | Gigabit | Take-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | England | 99.6% | 99.6% | 78.0% |
| 2 | Southend-on-Sea | England | 97.6% | 98.3% | 16.0% |
| 3 | Antrim and Newtownabbey | Northern Ireland | 96.7% | 97.1% | 65.0% |
| 4 | Bracknell Forest | England | 96.7% | 97.2% | 48.0% |
| 5 | Coventry | England | 96.7% | 97.7% | 58.0% |
| 6 | Cannock Chase | England | 96.6% | 96.8% | 56.0% |
| 7 | Milton Keynes | England | 96.4% | 96.4% | 69.0% |
| 8 | Wolverhampton | England | 95.9% | 98.2% | 34.0% |
| 9 | Ards and North Down | Northern Ireland | 95.7% | 96.0% | 72.0% |
| 10 | Hartlepool | England | 95.7% | 96.9% | 36.0% |
Worst for full fibre
The authorities where the fewest premises can get full fibre, the rollout's long tail.
| # | Area | Nation | Full fibre | Gigabit | Below decent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Na h-Eileanan Siar | Scotland | 12.0% | 12.0% | 2.8% |
| 2 | Shetland Islands | Scotland | 20.0% | 20.0% | 1.7% |
| 3 | Argyll and Bute | Scotland | 23.9% | 23.9% | 2.1% |
| 4 | Orkney Islands | Scotland | 30.0% | 30.0% | 2.0% |
| 5 | Perth and Kinross | Scotland | 36.6% | 55.1% | 0.7% |
| 6 | Harlow | England | 41.9% | 90.9% | 0.0% |
| 7 | Aberdeenshire | Scotland | 48.5% | 48.5% | 1.3% |
| 8 | Redditch | England | 49.6% | 90.7% | 0.0% |
| 9 | Isles of Scilly | England | 50.2% | 50.2% | 0.1% |
| 10 | North Norfolk | England | 54.5% | 54.5% | 0.9% |
Biggest adoption gap
Full fibre is there, but most homes haven't switched to it. Availability minus take-up, in percentage points.
| # | Area | Nation | Available | Taken up | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southend-on-Sea | England | 97.6% | 16.0% | +81.6pp |
| 2 | Dudley | England | 89.7% | 22.0% | +67.7pp |
| 3 | St. Helens | England | 94.5% | 27.0% | +67.5pp |
| 4 | West Northamptonshire | England | 93.5% | 27.0% | +66.5pp |
| 5 | Blackpool | England | 83.9% | 19.0% | +64.9pp |
| 6 | Camden | England | 86.9% | 22.0% | +64.9pp |
| 7 | Tamworth | England | 88.5% | 24.0% | +64.5pp |
| 8 | Islington | England | 84.4% | 20.0% | +64.4pp |
| 9 | Leicester | England | 94.4% | 30.0% | +64.4pp |
| 10 | Luton | England | 91.6% | 28.0% | +63.6pp |
Most homes left behind
Ranked by the number of premises that still can't get a decent broadband connection (fixed or fixed-wireless).
| # | Area | Nation | Premises below decent | % below decent | Full fibre |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Highland | Scotland | 2,040 | 1.5% | 63.3% |
| 2 | Aberdeenshire | Scotland | 1,764 | 1.3% | 48.5% |
| 3 | Powys | Wales | 1,431 | 2.0% | 62.1% |
| 4 | Argyll and Bute | Scotland | 1,211 | 2.1% | 23.9% |
| 5 | Carmarthenshire | Wales | 1,073 | 1.1% | 73.0% |
| 6 | Cornwall | England | 1,038 | 0.3% | 65.3% |
| 7 | North Yorkshire | England | 1,008 | 0.3% | 82.3% |
| 8 | Northumberland | England | 771 | 0.4% | 82.1% |
| 9 | Ceredigion | Wales | 633 | 1.6% | 58.7% |
| 10 | Angus | Scotland | 610 | 1.0% | 58.9% |
Most improved full fibre
The fastest full-fibre rollout since July 2025, by percentage-point change in availability.
| # | Area | Nation | Now | Was | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Tyneside | England | 66.4% | 32.4% | +34.0pp |
| 2 | Harlow | England | 41.9% | 16.4% | +25.5pp |
| 3 | Tamworth | England | 88.5% | 66.5% | +22.0pp |
| 4 | Gloucester | England | 77.7% | 56.2% | +21.5pp |
| 5 | Blackpool | England | 83.9% | 63.3% | +20.6pp |
| 6 | Ashfield | England | 88.5% | 68.3% | +20.2pp |
| 7 | Oxford | England | 57.1% | 38.2% | +18.9pp |
| 8 | North Warwickshire | England | 75.3% | 56.9% | +18.4pp |
| 9 | Warwick | England | 61.4% | 44.5% | +16.9pp |
| 10 | Dumfries and Galloway | Scotland | 66.9% | 51.8% | +15.1pp |
Where full fibre went backwards
Authorities whose reported full-fibre availability fell since July 2025, usually a premises-base revision rather than lines being removed.
| # | Area | Nation | Now | Was | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stevenage | England | 56.8% | 61.4% | -4.6pp |
| 2 | North Devon | England | 60.9% | 65.1% | -4.2pp |
| 3 | Broxbourne | England | 74.3% | 78.0% | -3.7pp |
| 4 | Merton | England | 81.6% | 84.5% | -2.9pp |
| 5 | Torridge | England | 60.0% | 62.8% | -2.8pp |
What's coming by 2029
Ofcom's planned-deployment projections for full-fibre availability. The solid bar is today; the mid band is what operators are confident of building by January 2029; the pale band is the extra reach only their full ambitions would deliver, the part that's least certain.
UK
82% → 92% by 2029England
82% → 92% by 2029Scotland
75% → 91% by 2029Wales
82% → 94% by 2029Northern Ireland
95% → 99% by 2029Source: Ofcom PND2026 — projections to January 2029
Biggest planned full-fibre uplift
Where Ofcom's planned-deployment data projects the largest jump in full-fibre availability by January 2029.
| # | Area | Nation | Now | By 2029 | Uplift |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Argyll and Bute | Scotland | 23.9% | 72.3% | +48.4pp |
| 2 | Isles of Scilly | England | 50.2% | 96.0% | +45.8pp |
| 3 | Perth and Kinross | Scotland | 36.6% | 80.8% | +44.2pp |
| 4 | Oxford | England | 57.1% | 100.0% | +42.9pp |
| 5 | Inverclyde | Scotland | 58.3% | 98.2% | +39.9pp |
| 6 | Stockton-on-Tees | England | 59.6% | 98.2% | +38.6pp |
| 7 | Harlow | England | 41.9% | 77.9% | +36.0pp |
| 8 | Middlesbrough | England | 62.6% | 96.9% | +34.3pp |
| 9 | Cornwall | England | 65.3% | 96.0% | +30.7pp |
| 10 | East Lindsey | England | 64.0% | 94.1% | +30.1pp |
What people actually do with the connection
Coverage is only half the story. Ofcom's measured data shows how much households actually use, and full-fibre homes pull around 30% more data a month than the typical connection.
UKreference
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland
Source: Ofcom measured performance data · July 2025. Figures are average monthly data usage per connection.
Broadband by constituency
Full-fibre availability for every Westminster constituency and every devolved seat (Holyrood, the Senedd and the NI Assembly). The best and worst connected are below; download the CSV for any individual seat.
Westminster constituencies
650 seats
- Kingston upon Hull EastEngland100%
- Kingston upon Hull North and CottinghamEngland100%
- Kingston upon Hull West and HaltempriceEngland100%
- Sheffield South EastEngland99%
- Leeds South West and MorleyEngland99%
- Na h-Eileanan an IarScotland12%
- Argyll, Bute and South LochaberScotland23%
- Orkney and ShetlandScotland25%
- Middlesbrough South and East ClevelandEngland26%
- Perth and Kinross-shireScotland40%
Devolved constituencies
131 seats: Holyrood, Senedd and the NI Assembly
- Glasgow PollokScotland98%
- Glasgow ProvanScotland98%
- Glasgow AnnieslandScotland97%
- South AntrimNorthern Ireland97%
- PaisleyScotland97%
- Na h-Eileanan an IarScotland12%
- Argyll and ButeScotland14%
- Shetland IslandsScotland20%
- Perthshire NorthScotland25%
- Orkney IslandsScotland30%
Every UK local authority, ranked by full fibre
All 361 local authorities, grouped by nation. The figure is full-fibre availability. Tap any area with a Switchity guide for its full broadband breakdown: providers, speeds, prices and coverage.
England296
- Adur77%
- Amber Valley89%
- Arun82%
- Ashfield89%
- Ashford68%
- Babergh75%
- Barking and Dagenham90%
- Barnet70%
- Barnsley89%
- Basildon74%
- Basingstoke and Deane67%
- Bassetlaw78%
- Bath and North East Somerset73%
- Bedford75%
- Bexley84%
- Birmingham86%
- Blaby91%
- Blackburn with Darwen89%
- Blackpool84%
- Bolsover89%
- Bolton88%
- Boston80%
- Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole79%
- Bracknell Forest97%
- Bradford91%
- Braintree90%
- Breckland67%
- Brent78%
- Brentwood85%
- Brighton and Hove69%
- Bristol, City of83%
- Broadland78%
- Bromley69%
- Bromsgrove80%
- Broxbourne74%
- Broxtowe87%
- Buckinghamshire75%
- Burnley92%
- Bury93%
- Calderdale86%
- Cambridge89%
- Camden87%
- Cannock Chase97%
- Canterbury75%
- Castle Point85%
- Central Bedfordshire74%
- Charnwood89%
- Chelmsford81%
- Cheltenham86%
- Cherwell79%
- Cheshire East79%
- Cheshire West and Chester88%
- Chesterfield88%
- Chichester67%
- Chorley90%
- City of London82%
- Colchester68%
- Cornwall65%
- Cotswold72%
- County Durham84%
- Coventry97%
- Crawley68%
- Croydon71%
- Cumberland84%
- Dacorum68%
- Darlington87%
- Dartford74%
- Derby88%
- Derbyshire Dales63%
- Doncaster95%
- Dorset76%
- Dover75%
- Dudley90%
- Fareham92%
- Fenland84%
- Folkestone and Hythe75%
- Forest of Dean80%
- Fylde93%
- Gateshead77%
- Gedling85%
- Gloucester78%
- Gosport92%
- Gravesham73%
- Great Yarmouth83%
- Greenwich78%
- Guildford66%
- Hackney84%
- Halton89%
- Hammersmith and Fulham85%
- Harborough78%
- Haringey62%
- Harlow42%
- Harrow78%
- Hart76%
- Hartlepool96%
- Hastings84%
- Havant69%
- Havering85%
- Herefordshire, County of82%
- Hertsmere72%
- High Peak85%
- Hillingdon81%
- Hinckley and Bosworth76%
- Horsham76%
- Hounslow66%
- Huntingdonshire79%
- Hyndburn93%
- Ipswich95%
- Isle of Wight87%
- Isles of Scilly50%
- Islington84%
- Kensington and Chelsea73%
- King's Lynn and West Norfolk65%
- Kingston upon Hull, City of100%
- Kingston upon Thames71%
- Kirklees93%
- Knowsley94%
- Maidstone71%
- Maldon82%
- Malvern Hills72%
- Manchester87%
- Mansfield86%
- Medway81%
- Melton67%
- Merton82%
- Mid Devon67%
- Mid Suffolk62%
- Mid Sussex83%
- Middlesbrough63%
- Milton Keynes96%
- Mole Valley71%
- New Forest75%
- Newark and Sherwood82%
- Newcastle upon Tyne87%
- Newcastle-under-Lyme79%
- Newham83%
- North Devon61%
- North East Derbyshire88%
- North East Lincolnshire80%
- North Hertfordshire70%
- North Kesteven70%
- North Lincolnshire93%
- North Norfolk55%
- North Northamptonshire89%
- North Somerset85%
- North Tyneside85%
- North Warwickshire75%
- North West Leicestershire80%
- North Yorkshire82%
- Northumberland82%
- Norwich75%
- Nottingham90%
- Nuneaton and Bedworth70%
- Oadby and Wigston95%
- Oldham94%
- Oxford57%
- Pendle93%
- Peterborough95%
- Plymouth78%
- Portsmouth88%
- Preston86%
- Salford90%
- Sandwell91%
- Sefton84%
- Sevenoaks67%
- Sheffield92%
- Shropshire74%
- Slough92%
- Solihull81%
- Somerset75%
- South Cambridgeshire68%
- South Derbyshire92%
- South Gloucestershire67%
- South Hams59%
- South Holland76%
- South Kesteven78%
- South Norfolk71%
- South Oxfordshire75%
- South Ribble85%
- South Staffordshire84%
- South Tyneside66%
- Southampton95%
- Southend-on-Sea98%
- Southwark82%
- Spelthorne81%
- St Albans82%
- St. Helens95%
- Stafford73%
- Staffordshire Moorlands71%
- Stevenage57%
- Stockport88%
- Stockton-on-Tees60%
- Stoke-on-Trent90%
- Stratford-on-Avon83%
- Stroud80%
- Sunderland81%
- Surrey Heath74%
- Sutton78%
- Swale74%
- Swindon94%
- Tameside92%
- Tamworth89%
- Tandridge60%
- Teignbridge74%
- Telford and Wrekin58%
- Tendring79%
- Test Valley58%
- Tewkesbury75%
- Thanet79%
- Three Rivers86%
- Thurrock85%
- Tonbridge and Malling75%
- Torbay84%
- Torridge60%
- Tower Hamlets82%
- Trafford93%
- Tunbridge Wells75%
- Uttlesford76%
- Vale of White Horse64%
- Wakefield94%
- Walsall86%
- Waltham Forest87%
- Wandsworth85%
- Warrington92%
- Warwick61%
- Watford88%
- Waverley68%
- Wealden75%
- Welwyn Hatfield60%
- West Berkshire79%
- West Devon64%
- West Lancashire86%
- West Lindsey64%
- West Northamptonshire94%
- West Oxfordshire85%
- West Suffolk79%
- Westminster88%
- Westmorland and Furness82%
- Wigan88%
- Wiltshire70%
- Winchester58%
- Windsor and Maidenhead78%
- Wirral94%
- Woking76%
- Wokingham84%
- Wolverhampton96%
- Worcester93%
- Worthing93%
- Wychavon78%
- Wyre92%
- Wyre Forest82%
- York87%
Scotland32
- Aberdeen City93%
- Aberdeenshire49%
- Angus59%
- Argyll and Bute24%
- City of Edinburgh84%
- Clackmannanshire86%
- Dumfries and Galloway67%
- Dundee City86%
- East Ayrshire76%
- East Dunbartonshire76%
- East Lothian88%
- East Renfrewshire89%
- Falkirk71%
- Fife72%
- Glasgow City92%
- Highland63%
- Inverclyde58%
- Midlothian93%
- Moray64%
- Na h-Eileanan Siar12%
- North Ayrshire80%
- North Lanarkshire73%
- Orkney Islands30%
- Perth and Kinross37%
- Renfrewshire92%
- Scottish Borders76%
- Shetland Islands20%
- South Ayrshire71%
- South Lanarkshire69%
- Stirling77%
- West Dunbartonshire55%
- West Lothian80%
Wales22
- Blaenau Gwent78%
- Bridgend93%
- Caerphilly90%
- Cardiff87%
- Carmarthenshire73%
- Ceredigion59%
- Conwy88%
- Denbighshire82%
- Flintshire91%
- Gwynedd71%
- Isle of Anglesey68%
- Merthyr Tydfil79%
- Monmouthshire79%
- Neath Port Talbot78%
- Newport88%
- Pembrokeshire69%
- Powys62%
- Rhondda Cynon Taf80%
- Swansea85%
- Torfaen73%
- Vale of Glamorgan87%
- Wrexham86%
Northern Ireland11
- Antrim and Newtownabbey97%
- Ards and North Down96%
- Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon93%
- Belfast92%
- Causeway Coast and Glens94%
- Derry City and Strabane95%
- Fermanagh and Omagh91%
- Lisburn and Castlereagh95%
- Mid and East Antrim95%
- Mid Ulster94%
- Newry, Mourne and Down95%
Frequently asked questions about UK broadband coverage
Methodology & sources
What this is. A complete picture of fixed-broadband availability across every UK local authority (361), Westminster constituency (650) and devolved constituency (131), built entirely from Ofcom's own published data rather than crowdsourced speed tests.
Coverage & take-up. Full-fibre, gigabit, superfast and "decent broadband" availability come from Ofcom Connected Nations (January 2026). Full-fibre take-up is Ofcom's LA-level figure. Local-authority and constituency figures use Ofcom's matched-premises base; the four-nation headline figures use the residential-premises base, to match Ofcom's published headlines. "Can't get decent broadband" is the USO measure (premises unable to get a decent connection from a fixed line or fixed-wireless).
Trend. Movement is the change in full-fibre availability since Ofcom's July 2025 release, matched by ONS area code. We don't trend the "left behind" measure because Ofcom renamed it between releases.
Measured speed & data use. The measured-performance figures (average monthly data usage per connection, and the difference for full-fibre lines) are Ofcom's measured data, labelled July 2025.
Planned deployments. Forward projections to 2027–2029 come from Ofcom PND2026 — projections to January 2029. "All plans" includes operators' full build ambitions; figures can be revised as plans firm up.
Licence. The underlying data is © Ofcom and contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Our compiled tables are free to reuse with attribution: "Contains information from Ofcom, licensed under the OGL v3.0" and a link to this page.
Free CSVs (Open Government Licence)
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