Ah, bucolic bliss! Well, so long as we have damn good broadband infrastructure.
BY:
Caterina Conti
Media Operations
PROJECT COUNSEL MEDIA
5 June 2020 (Paris, France) – One of the seemingly obvious benefits of this remote working trend is that lawyers now have more flexibility to choose where they live and it’s likely that a few are considering a life of bucolic bliss once things have settled. However, there is one big limiting factor: broadband infrastructure.
Last year the plight of British broadband was a much-discussed political issue. This was for good reason. As we noted last year in our end-of-the-year telecom report to our TMT (technology, media, and telecom) industry subscribers, M-Lab’s 2019 World Speeds Report ranked the UK 34th in the world for average download speed. Its score of 22.37Mbps is below Madagascar (ranked 33rd with 22.57Mbps), Slovakia (ranked 23rd with 29.45Mbps) and Latvia (ranked 16th with 32.47Mbps).
While country by country comparisons are revealing, UK employees will be more interested in how internet speeds differ within the UK and there are some significant differences. Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2019 report provides data on internet speeds by council. In 1st place for median download speed is West Dunbartonshire with 78.1 Mbps and in last place is the City of London with 16.9Mbps. It’s a shock to see City of London at the back of the pack but as long as you aren’t planning on doing huge data downloads 16.9Mbps is easily enough to function. For reference, video conference calling requires anywhere between 1-5Mbps depending on the number of participants.
Earlier this week we were in a Zoom chat on UK broadband connections and part was devoted to the proportion of connections slower than 5Mbps by council. Under this metric the rankings changed considerably compared to the median speed rankings:
• The City of London jumped up to 174 out of 383 with just 5 per cent of connections slower than 5Mbps
• In fact, London performed excellently, with Camden (1.25 per cent), Lambeth (1.90 per cent), Islington (1.92 per cent), Hackney (1.96 per cent) and Hammersmith and Fulham (1.97 per cent) making up five of the top six best councils.
• Ceredigion, on the west coast of Wales, is in last place with 17 per cent of connections below 5Mbps.
UK broadband heat map: the peripheries have a higher proportion of slow connections
For those buying into the theory that this pandemic would start the decline of the capital’s appeal, these numbers should make you think again. However, if you still have your heart set on living by the sea or in the countryside there are a few good options out there. Brighton and South Oxfordshire respectively have 97 per cent and 95.7 per cent of their connections faster than 5Mbps. While a left field choice is the Isles of Scilly off the coast of Cornwall, which has a very respectable 93.2 per cent of connections meeting our minimum requirement.
Broadband investment will be at the front of the UK Government’s mind when considering their post-Covid stimulus package but until then, if you want to be guaranteed internet reliability, London is still your best bet.
