Glasgow has the UK’s most unequal broadband connections in the UK, according to speed tests by Uswitch.com, the comparison and switching service. 

The highest average download speed measured in Glasgow was 840.4Mbps, logged in the Milton district. Just four miles away in Bearsden, however, speeds as low as 0.97Mbps were recorded. 

The fastest speed in Glasgow was 866 times faster than the slowest speed in Scotland’s biggest city. 

0.97Mbps is below the 10Mbps download speed defined as the minimum required for a decent broadband connection as part of the UK Government’s universal service obligation. 

With these metrics, Glasgwegians with the slowest connection would ave to wait 11 hours and 54 minutes to download a two hour HD movie. The fast speeds in the city could accomplish this feat in just 49 seconds. 

In comparison, Edinburgh has the highest broadband speeds in the UK, though it is just above Glasgow’s fastest speeds at 840.6 compared to 840.4. 

The Scottish capital’s slowest speeds were still well below the minimum recommended speed, at 2.32 Mbps. 

In the UK overall, the average home broadband speed is currently 59.4 Mbps. As many customers upgrade to faster services, however, the gap is widening even in the same neighborhood. 

“We are seeing a large and growing gap between customers benefiting from ultrafast speeds and those who are getting the bare minimum, ” Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch.com said. 

“Legacy copper-wire broadband services often struggle to cope with the demands placed on them by busy households with many devices online, and are also more likely to suffer from outages.” 

For instance, in Glasgow more than a third of addresses in the slowest area did not have access to a superfast package, while the remainder could choose from standard, superfast, or ultrafast full fibre deals. 

According to Ofcom’s latest figures, 4% of UK households receive an average download speed of under 10Mbps, with the majority using standard copper wire connections. 

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“Yet advances in technology and the rollout of infrastructure means that millions of customers have far faster options on their doorstep,” Doku said. 

Under the USO, customers would be able to request an upgrade from their provider

With more roll outs of new technology, nearly twice as many broadband customers (7%) now get average ultrafast speeds of over 300 Mbps

While the UK and Scottish governments attempt to lessen the overall broadband gap mostly affecting rural and remote areas in the highland and the South of Scotland, this study points out the broadband gaps existing in Scotland’s most populated cities.

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