Nations report 2025

Published: 19 November 2025

These reports examine the availability of broadband and mobile services in each of the UK's nations.

Full-fibre networks is available to 79% of residential premises in England. This is an increase of 10 percentage points from July 2024. Gigabit-capable coverage now extends to 88% or 21.1 million premises in England.
Take-up of services on fixed networks has increased across England. Where full fibre is available, 41% of premises have taken up services on these networks which represents an increase of 8 percentage points of take up for all premises from last year.
Satellite broadband connections in England have increased. The number of customer connections in England has increased from around 70,000 to 90,000 from last year.
The number of premises - residential and commercial - in England without access to decent broadband has reduced. Only 26,000 (0.1%) premises in England cannot access decent broadband from fixed landlines or Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), a decrease of 7,000 premises over the last year.

We are reporting on 5G standalone (5G SA) mobile coverage for the first time. In England, 5G SA coverage outside premises from at least one mobile network operator (MNO) is 85% at the High Confidence level and 75% at the Very High Confidence level.
Overall 5G coverage has increased in England as 81% of England’s landmass has coverage from at least one MNO at the High Confidence level, up from 76% in 2024.
England maintain the highest levels of geographic 4G coverage, with all four MNOs providing 4G coverage to 90% of England’s landmass.

Around 780,000 homes in Northern Ireland can now access full-fibre broadband. Among the four UK nations, Northern Ireland (95%) has the highest availability of full-fibre networks. Northern Ireland’s full fibre position reflects significant early commercial rollout and publicly funded schemes designed to improve broadband in rural areas.
Superfast broadband from fixed lines is available to 99% of residential premises in Northern Ireland, an increase of one percentage point since 2024. In urban areas, this figure rises to 99%+.
Where full fibre is available, 62% of premises are connected, compared to 53% last year.
There has been a reduction in the number of premises unable to access decent broadband. Around 1,800 premises are unable to access connections with over 10 Mbit/s download speeds, compared to just over 2,000 last year.
Average monthly broadband data use in Northern Ireland is now 551 GB per month. This rises to 597 GB per month over full-fibre connections.

There has been a further increase in 5G availability. Mobile network operators (MNOs) continue to increase the footprint of these services, and outside premises coverage from at least one MNO now stands at 97% at the High Confidence level and 93% at Very High Confidence, up from 92% and 86% respectively in 2024.
We report on 5G standalone (5G SA) for the first time this year, and we found that outside premises coverage from at least one operator stands at 92% at the High Confidence level and 83% at the Very High Confidence level in Northern Ireland.
4G coverage continues to provide the backbone of mobile experience for consumers. Individual MNOs provide good 4G coverage across Northern Ireland, with geographic mobile coverage ranging from 94-96%, depending on the operator. Outside premises coverage from all four MNOs is available across 97% of Northern Ireland.

71% of residential properties have access to full-fibre networks in Scotland. This is an increase of nine percentage points (250,000 additional premises) compared to July 2024.
Take-up of services on full-fibre networks continues to increase, this year by eight percentage points from 35% in July 2024 to 43% in July 2025.
Take-up of satellite broadband has continued to rise in Scotland. Starlink connections in Scotland have increased from 11,000 to over 15 ,000. The technology offers the potential to bring connectivity to areas where building fixed or mobile connections is traditionally challenging.
The number of premises not able to access decent broadband continues to decrease. Only 0.4% (10,000) premises in Scotland cannot access decent broadband from fixed-lines or fixed wireless access (FWA). This is a decrease of around 5,000 premises over the last year.

5G standalone (SA) has a notable amount of coverage and deployments. In Scotland, 5G SA coverage outside premises from at least one MNO is at 77% at our High Confidence level.
Overall 5G coverage has seen modest but continued growth. The range of 5G coverage outside premises at High Confidence across the four MNOs has improved from 54-76% last year to 59-84% this year.
Scotland’s 4G coverage has risen by one to two percentage points from last year, but the region still has the lowest levels of geographic coverage across the UK.

Access to full-fibre networks has reached 78% of residential premises, an increase of 10 percentage points from last year and represents an additional 100,000 premises with access to full fibre compared to July 2024.
Take-up of services on full-fibre networks has risen over the last year. Take-up rates rose from 39% in July 2024 to 49% in July 2025. Over half a million premises that have taken up full fibre connections in Wales.
The number of premises that still cannot access decent broadband from fixed-line or fixed wireless networks has fallen to around 6,000 premises in Wales, a reduction of 2,000 since last year.
Availability of full fibre varies greatly across constituencies in Wales, and area specific full fibre data can be found in our interactive report.
More Welsh households are using satellite connectivity. The number of Starlink subscribers in Wales has risen to over 7,500 in 2025 from around 5,000 last year.

5G standalone, which we are reporting on for the first time this year, for coverage from at least one MNO now reaches 59% at the High Confidence level and 56% at the Very High Confidence level in areas outside of premises.
Overall 5G coverage has seen modest growth in Wales. 57% of Wales’ geography has coverage from at least one MNO at the High Confidence level.
4G geographic coverage in Wales has increased with 76% of the region having coverage from all MNOs. 99% of indoor premises have coverage from one MNO and 82% from all four MNOs.

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