UK Nations Broadband Coverage
How the Four Nations Compare
Northern Ireland leads the United Kingdom on full-fibre (FTTP) broadband deployment, with 93.3% of premises able to access a full-fibre connection, the highest proportion of any UK nation and well above the national average. This reflects significant early public-investment programmes and the relatively compact geography of Northern Ireland, which reduced the cost of rolling out fibre-to-the-premises infrastructure compared with rural areas of Scotland and Wales.
England follows at 77.9% full-fibre coverage, driven by dense urban centres including London, Manchester, and Birmingham where commercial investment from Openreach, CityFibre, and alternative network operators has been heaviest. Wales reaches 76.2%, benefiting from the Welsh Government's Superfast Cymru and subsequent Project Gigabit contracts, while Scotland sits lowest at 70.0% - a figure that masks stark urban-rural splits, with remote Highlands and island communities still awaiting voucher-funded rollout.
Across all four nations, gigabit-capable broadband (which includes full-fibre and DOCSIS 3.1 cable networks) generally runs a few percentage points above pure full-fibre figures because Virgin Media's HFC cable network upgrades contribute gigabit capacity in areas where fibre has not yet arrived. Premises unable to receive the Universal Service Obligation standard of 10 Mbit/s remain concentrated in the most rural parts of Scotland and Wales, where terrain and low population density continue to make commercial deployment economically challenging.
All figures are drawn from Ofcom's Connected Nations Spring 2026 report (January 2026 release, r1), published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Nation-level statistics represent aggregate coverage across all local authority areas within each nation.
Coverage vs residual gap
Northern Ireland leads full-fibre at 94.0% while Scotland posts the largest without-decent-fixed/FWA share (0.3%) - complementary Ofcom axes, not opposites of the same score.
Highest full-fibre coverage
| # | Nation | Full-fibre |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northern Ireland | 94.0% |
| 2 | England | 81.3% |
| 3 | Wales | 80.8% |
| 4 | Scotland | 74.0% |
Largest without-decent gap
| # | Nation | No decent fixed/FWA |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scotland | 0.3% |
| 2 | Wales | 0.3% |
| 3 | Northern Ireland | 0.2% |
| 4 | England | 0.1% |
Coverage by Nation
Northern Ireland
11 authorities- Full-fibre (FTTP)
- 94.0%
- Gigabit-capable
- 94.9%
- Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
- 98.6%
- No decent fixed/FWA broadband
- 0.2%
- Full-fibre take-up
- 59.3%
- Premises
- 892,592
England
296 authorities- Full-fibre (FTTP)
- 81.3%
- Gigabit-capable
- 88.4%
- Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
- 97.8%
- No decent fixed/FWA broadband
- 0.1%
- Full-fibre take-up
- 37.6%
- Premises
- 27,093,888
Wales
22 authorities- Full-fibre (FTTP)
- 80.8%
- Gigabit-capable
- 83.1%
- Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
- 96.5%
- No decent fixed/FWA broadband
- 0.3%
- Full-fibre take-up
- 43.1%
- Premises
- 1,572,766
Scotland
32 authorities- Full-fibre (FTTP)
- 74.0%
- Gigabit-capable
- 82.1%
- Superfast (≥30 Mbit/s)
- 96.7%
- No decent fixed/FWA broadband
- 0.3%
- Full-fibre take-up
- 35.3%
- Premises
- 2,934,448
Comparison Table
| Nation | Full-fibre | Gigabit | Superfast | Ultrafast | No decent fixed/FWA | Premises |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern Ireland | 94.0% | 94.9% | 98.6% | 94.9% | 0.2% | 892,592 |
| England | 81.3% | 88.4% | 97.8% | 88.8% | 0.1% | 27,093,888 |
| Wales | 80.8% | 83.1% | 96.5% | 83.3% | 0.3% | 1,572,766 |
| Scotland | 74.0% | 82.1% | 96.7% | 82.3% | 0.3% | 2,934,448 |
Nations broadband FAQ
- Which UK nation has the highest full-fibre (FTTP) coverage?
- Northern Ireland leads this Ofcom Connected Nations extract at 94.0% full-fibre premises coverage. Coverage is premises-capable, not take-up.
- Which UK nation has the largest share of premises without decent fixed or FWA broadband?
- Scotland posts the highest without-decent-fixed/FWA share at 0.3%. Gap and full-fibre ranks can diverge, rural density drives residual USO shortfalls.
- Is gigabit coverage the same as full-fibre?
- No. Gigabit-capable includes full-fibre plus upgraded cable (e.g. DOCSIS 3.1), so gigabit % typically sits a few points above pure FTTP. This hub ranks full-fibre and the residual no-decent gap as complementary axes.
- Where does this nations data come from?
- All nation figures are drawn from Ofcom Connected Nations Spring 2026 (January 2026 release, r1), published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Nation rows aggregate local-authority premises coverage.
Source: Ofcom Connected Nations Spring 2026, January 2026 release (r1). Published under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data compiled and presented by PlainBroadband. Figures represent premises-level coverage, not actual subscriptions.
Download the Ofcom Connected Nations local-authority snapshot cited on this page: ofcom-connected-nations-statistics.csv (CC BY 4.0 for this derived file; Ofcom source tables remain OGL).