Ofcom’s annual Connected Nations report, which measures the availability of broadband and mobile services across the UK, found that full-fibre connections are now available to 12.4 million households (42%), an increase of 4.3 million from last year.

The vast majority (97%) of UK homes can now get superfast broadband, which provides download speeds of at least 30 Mbit/s, although more than a quarter (27%) who have access to it have not taken it up.

However, nearly 80,000 homes and businesses (0.3%) still do not have access to “decent” broadband, defined by the Government as offering download speeds of 10 Mbit/s and upload speeds of 1 Mbit/s. Many of these are in the hardest-to-reach parts of the UK.

This figure has fallen from 123,000 last year, and Ofcom estimates that a further 15,000 of these premises will be covered by publicly funded rollout schemes in the next 12 months.

The rollout of 5G has also rapidly increased in the last year. Ofcom estimates that around seven in ten UK properties are in areas where 5G is available from at least one mobile network operator, up from about half last year. To access the Connected Nations report, click here.