Swindon is keeping its lead as the most broadband place in Britain, according to new research from Point Topic.
In terms of homes on high-speed internet, the Wiltshire city comes top in the UK, with an estimated penetration rate of 59.8% as of 30 June 2006. Swindon has pole position since December 2005, when 51.1 per cent of the local households were on broadband.
Point Topic’s report shows that penetration rates grew steadily throughout the country, but there is still a digital divide and it’s deepening in some areas.
By the end of June, less than half of the UK (40.4%) was on broadband. In some of the rural areas, in special in Northern Ireland, Wales and the East Midlands, less than one in three households had broadband access to the internet.
Point Topic adds that at the other end of the spectrum Swindon will start feeling the pressure of the approaching competition despite its good performance in the first half of 2006.
In the last report Cardiff occupied an already good 15th place in the ranking, with a residential broadband penetration rate of 46.7%; at the end of June 2006 it had moved up to the second position, with 57.8%.
The capital of Wales was the place chosen by BT for the initial tests of its 21CN (21st Century Network), with 10% of the telco’s subscribers base being moved to the new platform in March 2007 and the rest in June next year. The backing of the new technology should be an extra incentive for the take-up of broadband in the city.
A recent report from Screen Digest said that broadband growth is slowing in the largest European regions (see Broadband Growth Slowing In Biggest EU Regions).
Towards the end of November, the Office of National Statistics released research which showed that in September 2006, broadband connections accounted for 75.2% of all internet connections, up from 72.6% in June 2006 (see Three Out Of Four Internet Connections Now Via Broadband).
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