FindBroadband Data · The Findings
2026 edition
The State of UK Broadband
A plain-English look at what broadband really costs in Britain and who gets left behind.
The story in brief
Every day we log the price of every broadband deal on sale in Britain. Line that up against official figures on coverage, and a few uncomfortable patterns fall out.
The fastest broadband has reached most of the country, but not evenly. And the cheapest deal on the page is rarely the one that gives you the most for your money.
Here’s what the numbers say, in plain English.
Key findings
- 1 in 4homes in the worst-served region (South West) still can't get gigabit, against almost all of Northern Ireland.
- 35×more per 100 Mbps of speed from the worst-value provider than the best (about £25 versus £1 for the same speed).
Source: FindBroadband price monitor; Ofcom Connected Nations · free to cite with a link to this page
Coverage · by region
Where you live decides what you get
The clearest way to see the gap is by region. This is the share of homes that can get gigabit (~1,000 Mbps) in each part of the UK.
Northern Ireland leads, while the more rural South West, Wales and Scotland sit at the bottom. Fast broadband tracks how densely homes are packed together.
Source: Ofcom Connected Nations; ONS NSPL · FindBroadband analysis
Prices · competition
More choice, cheaper broadband
Where more companies offer broadband, the cheapest deal is cheaper. Below is the lowest monthly price you can get, grouped by how many providers serve the area.
Each row is the average cheapest monthly deal in areas served by that many providers. More competition, lower floor.
Source: FindBroadband price monitor; Ofcom coverage · FindBroadband analysis
Coverage · year on year
The fastest broadband is still spreading
Gigabit is the top tier (around 1,000 Mbps). The share of UK homes that can get it climbed from 78% to 82.2% in a single year, and it's still rising.
Source: Ofcom Connected Nations · FindBroadband analysis
Prices · value for money
The cheapest bill isn’t the best value
A low price means nothing on its own. What matters is what you get for it. So we worked out how much each provider charges for every 100 Mbps of speed, which lets a fast fibre plan and a slow budget plan be compared fairly.
Each card is the cost for every 100 Mbps of speed. Lower is better. Swipe from the best value to the worst.
Source: FindBroadband price monitor · FindBroadband analysis
Method
How we measure this
Prices come from our own monitor, which snapshots every broadband deal on sale daily, so we track what the market actually charges over time, not a headline figure. Coverage and speed are from Ofcom's Connected Nations data. Figures update as new data lands.
The bottom line
Broadband is one of the few bills that goes up every year by the terms of your contract, not the market. And what you can actually get still depends on where you live.
Most of that is out of your hands. The part that isn’t is the deal you’re on, and most people are paying more than they need to, kept there by a mid-contract price rise and the faff of switching. That’s the gap worth closing.
Your address · your numbers