UK’s low-income areas suffer with continued broadband digital divide

Lower-priced satellite services

Significantly, Ofcom found that the number of premises without access to affordable decent broadband has fallen to only 4,000, mainly due to the availability of lower-priced satellite services. It added that the number of premises unable to access decent broadband from a fixed line or fixed wireless access network has dropped to 39,000, down from 44,000 in July 2025. 

Yet drilling deeper, Broadband Savvy found that nationally, regions in the bottom 10% for per-person income were 2.8 times more likely than average to be in the bottom 10% for full-fibre adoption. Blackpool, West Dunbartonshire and Southend-on-Sea were the areas struggling most to afford fast broadband. In regions with increased broadband market competition, full-fibre adoption is often 20-30% higher regardless of average income level.

Broadband Savvy suggested there were two main reasons why people were failing to upgrade to full-fibre broadband. First, in urban areas such as Oxford and central London, there was widespread availability of gigabit broadband delivered through technology types other than full-fibre, such as hybrid fibre coaxial cable. In these regions, full fibre take-up has been limited due to the existing availability of fast broadband services.

By contrast, in lower-income areas such as Blackpool, West Dunbartonshire and Dudley, where there were fewer independent broadband providers to choose from and less price competition, full-fibre uptake rates are often around half of the national average due to affordability constraints.

“The digital divide is the biggest it has ever been in the UK,” said Tom Paton, founder of Broadband Savvy. “With household living expenses constantly rising – including broadband contracts with their mid-contract price rises – we’re seeing more and more people struggle to afford decent broadband, including those that spend a lot of time online.

“Certain parts of the country simply cannot afford to access full-fibre broadband, and are stuck with antiquated part-fibre or copper technology, or no broadband connection at all, as a result,” he said. “While social tariffs offer a means for those on lower incomes to access fast broadband for a reasonable price, there remains a significant lack of awareness that these discounted plans exist.”

In a call to action, Broadband Savvy called for greater support for those on lower incomes to gain access to the connectivity the analyst said they required to work, learn and generally live in the modern age. The first step, it said, was to raise awareness of social tariffs.

“We think that providers should be required to advertise these packages prominently on their website, rather than being able to leave them buried deep on a page that can’t be found without searching specifically for it,” said Paton.

“The one saving grace for British consumers over the past decade has been broadband altnets, and the extremely discounted prices they’re currently offering,” he added. “In certain areas, such as Northern Ireland, these companies have allowed people to access full-fibre broadband for a much more reasonable price compared to what incumbent providers are charging. However, once these altnet providers gain enough market share, it is likely they will begin raising prices to be more in line with the competition, again forcing hundreds of thousands of people to forgo fast broadband or cancel their connections altogether.”