UK Full-Fibre Coverage
77.5%
Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 · Open Government Licence v3.0
UK broadband coverage, by every local authority.
77.5% of UK premises have full-fibre broadband. Official Ofcom data — open access.
- UK Full-Fibre
- 77.5%
- Local Authorities
- 361
- Constituencies
- 650
- Data Year
- 2025
Gigabit-Capable Coverage
85.9%
Premises in Dataset
32,369,839
Local Authorities
361
The national picture
Full-fibre now reaches 77.5% of UK premises, but the picture is sharply uneven: Northern Ireland leads at 93.3% while Scotland trails at 70% — a 23.3pp gap between the best- and worst-served nations.
93.3% Northern Ireland — best-served nation
70% Scotland — least-served nation
99.6% top authority — Kingston upon Hull, City of
175 of 361 authorities at or above the UK average
About This Data
PlainBroadband presents the Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 dataset — the UK's definitive annual audit of fixed broadband infrastructure, published in July 2025 (release r01) under the Open Government Licence v3.0. The dataset covers 361 local authority districts and 650 Westminster constituencies across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, tracking the proportion of premises with access to superfast (≥30 Mbit/s), ultrafast (≥300 Mbit/s), full-fibre (FTTP), gigabit-capable, and USO-grade connections.
The picture across the UK is one of rapid but uneven progress. Northern Ireland leads all four nations with full-fibre coverage reaching 93.3% of premises, driven by a long-running FTTP rollout that predates the Great Britain deployments. England stands at 77.9%, Wales at 76.2%, and Scotland at 70.0%. At local authority level the spread is dramatic: Kingston upon Hull tops the table at 99.6% full-fibre, a legacy of KCOM's city-wide network, while rural and Highland authorities trail considerably. The national UK average sits at approximately 77.5% of premises, weighted by premises count.
Use PlainBroadband to look up your local authority, compare coverage against neighbouring areas, explore the top and bottom rankings, or drill into constituency-level figures for political analysis. All figures are reproduced without modification from the official Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 dataset. See our methodology page for data provenance and column definitions.
Coverage by Nation
England
77.9%
full-fibre coverage
296 local authorities
Scotland
70%
full-fibre coverage
32 local authorities
Wales
76.2%
full-fibre coverage
22 local authorities
Northern Ireland
93.3%
full-fibre coverage
11 local authorities
The Adoption Gap — Availability vs Take-Up
Full-fibre is widely available across the UK's largest authorities, but household take-up lags far behind. Each dot is a major local authority positioned by the share of premises that can get full-fibre (horizontal) versus the share that actually use it (vertical).
Top Local Authorities by Full-Fibre Coverage
Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 — percentage of premises with full-fibre (FTTP) coverage
Source: Ofcom Connected Nations 2025, July 2025 (r01). Open Government Licence v3.0.
Top 10 by Full-Fibre Coverage
See all rankings →| # | Authority | Nation | Full-Fibre | Gigabit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingston upon Hull, City of | England | 99.6% | 99.6% |
| 2 | Southend-on-Sea | England | 97.6% | 98.3% |
| 3 | Bracknell Forest | England | 96.6% | 97.1% |
| 4 | Antrim and Newtownabbey | Northern Ireland | 96.3% | 96.7% |
| 5 | Coventry | England | 96.3% | 97.3% |
| 6 | Milton Keynes | England | 95.7% | 95.7% |
| 7 | Wolverhampton | England | 95.6% | 98.1% |
| 8 | Ards and North Down | Northern Ireland | 95.4% | 95.8% |
| 9 | Cannock Chase | England | 95.4% | 96.1% |
| 10 | Lisburn and Castlereagh | Northern Ireland | 95.2% | 96.2% |
Areas with Largest USO Gap
Full rankings →The Universal Service Obligation (USO) guarantees access to decent broadband (≥10 Mbit/s down, ≥1 Mbit/s up). These authorities have the highest proportion of premises still below this threshold.
| # | Authority | Nation | Below USO | Full-Fibre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Na h-Eileanan Siar | Scotland | 2.8% | 10.3% |
| 2 | Orkney Islands | Scotland | 2.6% | 24.9% |
| 3 | Argyll and Bute | Scotland | 2.2% | 21.1% |
| 4 | Powys | Wales | 2.2% | 57% |
| 5 | Shetland Islands | Scotland | 2.1% | 17.2% |
| 6 | Ceredigion | Wales | 1.7% | 50% |
| 7 | Aberdeenshire | Scotland | 1.6% | 43.4% |
| 8 | Highland | Scotland | 1.6% | 60.2% |
| 9 | Torridge | England | 1.4% | 62.8% |
| 10 | West Devon | England | 1.4% | 59.8% |
Explore the Data
Local Authorities
All 361 UK local authority districts — sortable by coverage metric.
Westminster Constituencies
Broadband coverage for all 650 parliamentary constituencies.
Rankings
Best and worst local authorities ranked by each coverage metric.
Guides
Explainers on broadband technology, Ofcom metrics, and the USO.
Methodology
How Ofcom collects and measures broadband coverage data.
About
About PlainBroadband and the Kiznis Studio editorial team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is PlainBroadband?
PlainBroadband is a free, independent data portal presenting UK broadband coverage statistics from Ofcom's Connected Nations 2025 report (July 2025, r01). We organise official Ofcom data into searchable, comparable pages covering all 361 UK local authorities, 650 Westminster constituencies, and the four nations — England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. All figures reflect the percentage of premises with access to a given technology as measured by Ofcom. Data is published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What is full-fibre (FTTP) broadband?
Full-fibre broadband — also known as Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) — uses optical fibre cable all the way from the exchange directly into your home or business. This is distinct from part-fibre (FTTC) connections that use copper for the final stretch. Full-fibre lines can deliver gigabit speeds (1,000 Mbit/s and above) and are considered the gold standard for future-proof connectivity. As of the Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 report, around 77.5% of UK premises can access a full-fibre network, up from lower levels in prior years. Northern Ireland leads all four nations at 93.3%.
What does "gigabit-capable" mean?
A premises is counted as gigabit-capable if it can access at least one fixed broadband network able to deliver download speeds of 1 Gbit/s (1,000 Mbit/s) or faster. In practice this is almost always a full-fibre (FTTP) connection, though some cable networks (DOCSIS 3.1 and above) also qualify. Ofcom reports gigabit-capable coverage as the proportion of premises with at least one such network available. PlainBroadband shows this figure for every local authority and constituency so you can compare your area against the national average.
What is the USO — Universal Service Obligation?
The Universal Service Obligation (USO) is a legal right, introduced in 2020, guaranteeing every UK home and business the ability to request a decent broadband connection of at least 10 Mbit/s download and 1 Mbit/s upload. Ofcom tracks the proportion of premises that fall below this threshold. On PlainBroadband the "USO gap" column shows the percentage of premises in each local authority that cannot yet receive this minimum standard. Nationally the figure is very low, but rural and remote areas can show materially higher gaps.
Guide
What is full-fibre broadband?
Rankings
Coverage rankings by local authority
Guide
The broadband USO explained
Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations 2025 — UK Fixed Broadband Coverage (July 2025, release r01). Retrieved and formatted by Kiznis Studio Editorial. Data published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Disclaimer: Information is provided for informational purposes only. Figures represent availability, not actual take-up or service quality.