Hull increases lead at the top of UK broadband speed league
The city has been confirmed as the UK’s broadband champion by posting the fastest average speeds in the country
KCOM has been chosen by the Government to help provide a service guaranteeing everyone in the UK a minimum broadband speed
KCOM is one of just two companies chosen nationally to provide the Government’s new Universal Service Obligation (USO) which will make it possible for those in slow speed areas of the UK to legally request a broadband speed of at least 10Mbps (Megabits per second) from 2020.
KCOM and BT have been named as the only two companies who met the criteria and possessed the technical capability required by Ofcom to provide the USO. While BT will deliver the USO to the rest of the UK through a combination of fibre and copper wiring, KCOM will be able to deliver the USO through its £85m full fibre network which will be complete in March 2019 - a year ahead of schedule.
A KCOM spokesman said: “We’re delighted that Ofcom has proposed KCOM as the provider of the new Universal Service Obligation in Hull. As one of just two providers chosen from the eight national companies that applied it shows Ofcom’s confidence in KCOM to deliver the new requirements.
“The USO will give every household in the UK the legal right to request a basic broadband connection speed of up to 10Mbps by 2020. Luckily for everyone covered by our full fibre network in Hull and East Yorkshire we will have surpassed this minimum requirement by some distance by 2019.
“Our full fibre Lightstream broadband offers a minimum speed of 30Mbps so we are already leaving the minimum USO requirement far behind in the rear view mirror. Our new Hulltrafast campaign showcases our new full fibre broadband packages at prices up to 27% cheaper and with speeds now of up to a Gigabit with unlimited data.”
The USO entitles customers to legally request a minimum download speed of at least 10Mbps, a minimum upload speed of at least 1Mbps and a minimum data allowance of 100Gb (Gigabit).
The maximum wait time for a USO connection to be installed, once requested and approved, is one year.
Minister for Digital, Margot James MP, said: “I welcome the progress Ofcom have made on implementing the Universal Service Obligation, which now means that eligible consumers will be able to request a connection by the end of 2019.
“This is all part of our commitment to ensuring that by 2020 every home and every business in Britain has access to high speed broadband.”