More than eight million households in the UK now have access to full fiber broadband, while half of all properties can now receive 5G service from at least one mobile operator, according to Ofcom.
The regulator's annual Connected Nations report showed that three million homes were connected in the last 12 months, of which 750.000 benefited. This means that the number of properties actively taking fiber optic service now stands at two million, or a quarter of all previous installations.
Ofcom says it expects many of the 7.4 million no-contract broadband subscribers to switch to full fiber optic contact, potentially at no additional cost, with recent legislation making it easier to encourage people to switch providers to purchase.
Broadband fiber in UK
Openreach has so far connected six million facilities, while others such as CityFibre and Virgin Media are also deploying all-fiber infrastructure. Virgin Media upgraded its entire network to gigabit broadband using a combination of cable and fiber technology before a full fiber-to-site (FTTP) deployment by 2028.
The average amount of data consumed per connection increased to 453 GB per month, three times more than five years ago, from 132 GB. This increase reflects the growing importance of connectivity for work, education and daily life during the pandemic, as well as the rise of online gaming and streaming services.
"Many families now have multiple devices on the go at the same time for work, learning and entertainment, and the holiday season can see a particular battle for bandwidth," said Lindsey Fussell, director of networking and communications group at Ofcom.
“Full fiber helps meet these demands, and millions more benefit from faster speeds and more reliable connections. But some households in hard-to-reach areas are still struggling to get decent broadband, so there is still work to be done to ensure these communities get the connections they need.
This year's report is the first time Ofcom has been able to publish data on 5G. He estimates that the number of people using next-generation networks in the UK has risen from 800.000 last year to six million this year. Although 5G traffic is on the rise, it only carries 3% of all mobile traffic in the UK, while 4G carries 91%.
Those numbers are likely to change as more people switch to a 5G rate and coverage expands.
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