A Nottinghamshire village reportedly has one of the worst broadband speeds in the UK with residents describing it as "awful." The rural village of Kilvington, near Newark, has the eighth worst broadband speed in the UK and fourth worst speed in England.
Research has found that rural areas are seven times more likely to be stuck with broadband speeds under 10Mbps. As the moon is set to get broadband speeds of 100Mbps in 2024, this means that over 500,000 properties across the UK will have broadband speeds ten times worse than the moon is due to get.
Additionally, the Arctic Circle already has speeds of 100Mbps and even Mount Everest currently receives broadband speeds of 50Mbps. Kilvington residents are growing frustrated with the issue, but some say the broadband speed has recently been improved thanks to underground fibre.
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Recruitment Director, Dale Shaw, 43, has lived in the village since 2019. He said: "We have Sky broadband at the moment and we've had issues with it for the last three and a half years. We have not had a proper service since we have been here.
"We are supposed to be getting 27 mbps but I'm lucky if I get 15 and it's not just the speed, it also drops off all the time. Our house is pretty small and we have a sky box downstairs, a main box upstairs and a booster box."
Dale explained that an ethernet cable has also been installed around the house to try and improve the broadband. Speaking of the newly installed fibre, he added: "It was awful before and ours is still bad."
When told about the difference between the village's speed in comparison to what will be installed, Dale said: "It's bonkers isn't it, I think it's proper bonkers. In this day and age as well, we're classed as Nottingham, yes we are a bit far out but the fibre is not far away.
"There's 17 houses on the box, yet we can't get a considerable internet speed and there's no reason why."
When asked about their broadband speed, Sarah Hilton-Bailey, 53, said: "Ours was really bad as we were the last on the line." However, they got fibre in October and are now "up to 1gb speed."
She added: "It had been awful until then." Her husband, Anthony Hilton Bailey, 56, explained that to have broadband installed at least 32 households or businesses from Kilvington and other villages needed to come together to pay for it.
He said: "It cost £3,000 per household or £6,000 if you were a business. We have been after broadband for eight years as we were fed broadband from Long Bennington which was two miles on the overhead copper wires but everytime it was windy it went off.
"It was a bit of a nightmare through coronavirus."
The pair explained that before fibre they were getting speeds of around 10mbps and have been "waiting for 20 years" to have better broadband.
Speaking about the broadband, one resident who did not wish to be named said: "It's not great, but it's a lot better now we have fibre." Research has also found that the East of England is the third worst performing region in the UK, where 59% of cities, towns and villages would have broadband speed ranges slower than 100Mbps.
David Hennell, Director at National Broadband commented: "The disparity between digital 'haves' and 'have nots' in the UK is sadly growing. While the moon is set to gain dizzying broadband speeds of 100Mbps, those in rural areas such as Corsley, Wiltshire and Portree, Scotland to name just two are left struggling with near-unusable broadband speeds of less than 10Mbps.
"And we know that's just the tip of the iceberg, as there are over 500,000 properties dotted across the UK experiencing the exact same issues. This makes it very clear that just not enough is being done to close the digital divide in this country.
"At National Broadband we believe that every connection matters and we're proud to offer alternative broadband solutions and fast and reliable internet connectivity to those who are being left behind."
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