The average speed of broadband in British homes has risen to 17.8Mbps, according to new figures published by Ofcom on Tuesday.
The speeds have jumped by 3Mbps in the six months leading up to November 2013 and are up from the average of 3.6Mbps when Ofcom began releasing reports six years ago.
However, while the UK's major towns and cities are enjoying unprecedentedly fast downloads, rural areas are still lagging behind, Ofcom bemoans.
In the same six months, the average speed in rural areas rose from 9.9Mbps to 11.3Mbps. That's a smaller increase and a much lower average speed.
Much to do
"The growth in superfast broadband and the rise in average speeds is testament to the investment in the sector. But the benefits are not shared evenly across the UK," Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said.
"There is more work needed to deliver wider availability of broadband and superfast broadband, particularly in rural communities but also in some locations within cities to enable wider access to fast internet."
Meanwhile, Virgin Media tops the pile in terms of the fastest speeds offered in the UK, through its 120Mbps, which averaged download speeds of 114Mbps over a 24 hour period.
The news comes on the day Sky and TalkTalk revealed it is working on bringing Google Fiber-like 1Gbps broadband to British homes.
Via Inquirer
