Broadband in Newcastle

Broadband in Newcastle

One of Northern England’s most vibrant and character-filled cities, Newcastle is an iconic engineering town that’s had a modern renaissance in recent years. With a huge shopping community and modern city centre mixed in with classic architecture Newcastle is a city on the rise.

As one of the cultural centres of the North, residents and businesses in the Newcastle area rely on fast and reliable broadband, which the city has recently upgraded thanks to campaigning from the local community. Superfast broadband in the area is getting better all the time, with Newcastle recently named one of the government’s Accelerated Development Zones.

Rapidly developing broadband

Whilst lacking in the past, Newcastle’s broadband infrastructure has benefited in recent years by the rise of modern business and campaigning from the local community. The government’s superfast broadband UK scheme has also seen improvements in the area, with Newcastle being a specific target.

Newcastle’s city centre enjoys speeds beyond average compared to the rest of the UK, with the city’s thriving shopping locations requiring good speeds in order to keep running. Northumbria University has also been found to have an industry standard infrastructure, winning a “most IT enable organisation” award.

Speeds and Availability

Broadband speeds in Newcastle are generally above the UK average, with download speeds normally reaching just over 20Mb, at least 3Mb over what the most of the country receives. Some areas in the outskirts of the city are still slower than the centre, but this is changing with the introduction of superfast broadband.

When looking at specific areas in Newcastle, certain areas host better broadband speeds than others. The NE16 postcode was found to have the best speeds, with over 35Mb on average. The NE2 area comes in at the lower end of the spectrum, with speeds usually only reaching just under 20Mb on average.

Broadband providers

The majority of major UK providers are represented in Newcastle, with the standard big-hitters such as Sky, BT and Virgin Media all able to connect to homes and businesses.

Fibre broadband is becoming more and more common in the city, with the fibre packages of well-known providers all available, depending on where you live. Hyperoptic, the hyperfast fibre provider does not operate in the city, but lesser known brands such as Fuel Broadband and Tentel are available to customers.

Summary

Newcastle’s broadband network is on the rise, with fibre connections and superfast speeds becoming available. As the city gradually becomes more modern, broadband has improved for both businesses and standard properties, giving a stable infrastructure that rivals the majority of other UK locations.