Full fibre coverage and speed by UK nation, 2025

Name: Full fibre coverage and average maximum download speed by UK nation, 2025
Creator: UKSpeedTest.co.uk
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Infographic by Dr Alex J Martin-Smith (LinkedIn), BroadbandSwitch.uk. Published 15 October 2026. Free to reuse with a credit link.

Northern Ireland is the UK’s full fibre leader by a distance: 95% of homes could get it in July 2025, against 79% in England, 78% in Wales and 71% in Scotland. The speed picture follows: the average maximum download speed available to a Northern Irish home was 325 Mbps, compared with 288 Mbps in England, 273 Mbps in Scotland and 243 Mbps in Wales.

Two-panel chart: full fibre availability by nation, Northern Ireland 95%, England 79%, Wales 78%, Scotland 71%; average maximum download speed by nation, Northern Ireland 325 Mbps, England 288, Scotland 273, Wales 243 — Full fibre availability for residential premises and the average maximum download speed available, July 2025. Source: Ofcom Connected Nations 2025 nations reports and UK report.

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What it means for you

Where you live sets your ceiling. A Belfast address and a rural Scottish address can have the same package name and very different options.
Coverage is availability, not what people have bought. Many homes in all four nations are still on copper lines they could leave today.
Scotland and Wales are catching up fastest in the areas the government-funded Project Gigabit programme reaches.

See what reaches your street

Live full fibre deals at your postcode on BroadbandSwitch.uk.

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The numbers behind the chart

Nation	Homes that can get full fibre (%)	Average maximum download speed (Mbps)
Northern Ireland	95	325
England	79	288
Wales	78	243
Scotland	71	273

Questions people ask

Why is Northern Ireland so far ahead on full fibre?

A combination of an early government-funded rollout (Project Stratum) and dense building by Openreach and Fibrus. Ofcom’s 2025 report puts it at 95% of homes.

What does average maximum download speed mean?

It is the average of the fastest speed each home could buy, not the speed people actually get. It is a measure of what the network can deliver, which is why it rises as full fibre spreads.

Use this infographic

Free to reuse on your site, in a report or on social media under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Please credit UKSpeedTest.co.uk with a link. Paste this to embed it:

<a href="https://ukspeedtest.co.uk/infographics/full-fibre-coverage-and-speed-by-uk-nation-2025/"><img src="https://ukspeedtest.co.uk/assets/infographics/full-fibre-coverage-and-speed-by-uk-nation-2025.png" alt="Two-panel chart: full fibre availability by nation, Northern Ireland 95%, England 79%, Wales 78%, Scotland 71%; average maximum download speed by nation, Northern Ireland 325 Mbps, England 288, Scotland 273, Wales 243" width="1200" height="675" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>
<p>Infographic by <a href="https://ukspeedtest.co.uk/">UKSpeedTest.co.uk</a>, the free UK speed test from BroadbandSwitch.uk.</p>

Cite as: UKSpeedTest.co.uk (2026). Full fibre coverage and speed by UK nation, 2025. BroadbandSwitch.uk. https://ukspeedtest.co.uk/infographics/full-fibre-coverage-and-speed-by-uk-nation-2025/

Sources

Ofcom. (2025, November 19). Nations report 2025 (Connected Nations). www.ofcom.org.uk
Jackson, M. (2025, November 19). Ofcom: gigabit broadband covers 87% of UK as 5G hits 97%. ISPreview. www.ispreview.co.uk