Why is it more difficult to get good quality broadband in rural areas?
The main problem with providing rural broadband is the restricted and sometimes completely lacking infrastructure. As a result of this, rural broadband services are consistently much slower than you would find in urban areas, and far slower than the regularly promoted ‘up to’ speeds and in some cases, particular broadband services are not available at all.
Technically, standard broadband should be available anywhere you can get a BT phone line. However, there are some suitably named ‘not spot’ areas where the lines are so slow that it is not possible to get a usable standard broadband connection. If you’re in one of these areas you will have to look at alternative internet services, such as wireless or satellite broadband. Another option is to use specialist rural broadband providers like Broadway. They are committed to specifically providing high quality broadband to some of the most remote and difficult locations in the UK and have already done amazing work in Wales and Scotland.
Slow standard broadband
For a lot of users who get their broadband via the telephone network, the actual speed you achieve is linked to how much of your connection is going over copper phone lines. The further a signal has to travel over these lines, the weaker it will become. So, where you live is a key factor in how much of the advertised ‘up to’ speed is possible and there are other issues related to infrastructure too. Slow speeds on standard broadband services can be put into three main issues:
- Your distance from the phone exchange- how far away you are from your nearest telephone exchange will determine what speeds you can achieve
- Exchanges that are using older technology- many rural exchanges are still using older, slower technology of the ADSL Max system or even worse the ADSL spec that tops out at 2mb. Even at equal distances from their nearest exchange, rural homes are still likely to get slower speeds than urban ones
- Lack of competition from LLU providers- providers are able to install their own equipment in exchanges to potentially offer faster speeds and a more reliable performance but will sometimes only do so where it is economically viable for them. Meaning there might only be one or two providers competing with their own equipment in rural areas in comparison to towns and cities
Slow fibre broadband
Rural fibre broadband services are not without its problems either. The two main concerns there are:
- Slow speeds caused by the distance from your nearest street cabinet- the most common type of fibre broadband is only partly fibre. The fibre optic cables go up to your closest street cabinet, and copper lines complete the connection between the cabinet and your home. Your speeds are directly tied to how far you are from the fibre enabled street cabinet.
- Lack of infrastructure- in rural locations homes aren’t as densely packed as they are in towns and cities, so one single street cabinet can cover a much larger geographic area despite having the same number of phone lines attached to it.
What broadband services are available in rural areas?
There are six main options for getting broadband across the country, but not all options are available in all areas
- Fibre- broadband is delivered by a fibre optic cable and is the fastest option on paper
- Standard- broadband over standard copper phone wires and has the most widespread availability
- Mobile- broadband that runs on the 4G mobile phone data network
- Satellite- broadband that is supplied via the installation of a satellite dish in your home
- Fixed wireless- broadband that is installed in a village or community, and is delivered wirelessly to homes through a mast and receiver
- Bonded- broadband that combines two or more standard phone lines to create a single, faster one
Getting broadband to rural areas can be difficult but is by no means impossible and specialist providers like Broadway are driven and passionate about bringing strong broadband connections to the hardest to connect locations. Find out if they’re working in your area today.
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