KCOM picked to be Universal Service Obligation provider
KCOM has been chosen by the Government to help provide a service guaranteeing everyone in the UK a minimum broadband speed
The city has been confirmed as the UK’s broadband champion by posting the fastest average speeds in the country
Hull was revealed as the fastest broadband city in the UK in research by comparison website comparethemarket.com which has analysed official Ofcom data.
Results from the Meerkat-fronted company showed Hull gained an average of 54.9 megabits per second (Mbps) from 2018 to 2019, extending its lead at the top of the UK average speed tables to 131.4 Mbps.
Hull is now streets ahead of other UK cities with its nearest competitor, Corby in Northamptonshire, coming in at second place on just 92.9Mbps.
KCOM Retail managing director Sean Royce said: “We’re delighted that Hull is once again flying the flag for quality broadband and showing others the way to go.
“This research confirms that not only are we already the UK’s leading broadband city but that we’re continuing to stretch our lead and push the boundaries of what our full fibre network can deliver.
“During these unprecedented times, when so many people are at home and reliant on their broadband, connectivity is more important than ever.
“What these figures mean for the average man and woman in Hull is that our ultrafast broadband is keeping them connected, enabling them to work from home and for their children to keep up with their schoolwork.
“But we are not resting on our laurels. We intend to stay at the top of the table and are investing £100m to extend our network even further across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
“Our engineers are out there right now doing a fabulous job to maintain and build new network capacity which will bring the benefits of our full fibre broadband to thousands more people across the region.
“This shows there’s no better place in the UK to be in lockdown than this region where you can rely on KCOM’s Lightstream broadband.”
The comparethemarket research confirmed Hull’s position as the UK’s first digital city. Hull recorded nearly double the best-performing London borough’s broadband performance with Camden reporting average speeds of just 77.7Mbps in 2019.
Hull’s namesake Kingston Upon Thames recorded speeds of 81.2Mbps while Westminster lags far behind with just 39.9Mbps.
Hull is also bucking the trend in regard to an apparent north-south divide, with seven of the top ten improvements located in areas further south.
Comparethemarket said: “The area with the biggest improvement in speed (as well as the highest speed overall) is Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The reason for this is that Hull has an entirely independent telecoms network, which is also why they have cream-coloured telephone boxes.”
For more details about Lightstream full fibre broadband visit www.kcomhome.com