Wigan street is one of slowest in the country for broadband speeds

Comparison and switching service Uswitch.com has discovered that Cornwall Avenue in Shakerley has the fourth slowest broadband speed in the UK and the second slowest in the North West. The average download speed is just 0.31mbps for people using their computers, phones, tablets or other devices there.

It is just behind Wistaston Road in Crewe, which has the slowest broadband speed in the country at just 0.24mbps.

That is a staggering 3,567 times slower than the UK’s fastest street, Haul Fryn in Birchgrove, Swansea, where average download speeds reached 882mbps over the past year.

For the unfortunate residents of Wistaston Road, it would take more than 48 hours to download a two-hour HD film. By contrast, the people of Haul Fryn could download the same film in just 47 seconds.

Haul Fryn is 243mbps quicker than last year’s fastest street, showing the improvements in ultrafast broadband infrastructure across the UK with the rollout of full fibre broadband.

Analysis of 276,083 consumer speed tests collated by Uswitch.com showed the number of broadband users enjoying faster speeds is growing.

Two-fifths of users (43 per cent) now get superfast speeds of more than 30mbps, which is almost double the number of users six years ago (22 per cent).

But despite the fact that superfast broadband is available to 96 per cent of the country, and ultrafast to 62 per cent, a recent Uswitch survey found that four in 10 (40 per cent) were unaware how to access it.

Residents in nine of the 10 slowest streets could actually have access to a quicker service, suggesting consumers who are willing to pay for faster speeds are being deprived of better broadband because they are not aware they could change to a faster alternative.

While superfast broadband is not available on Cornwall Avenue, ultrafast broadband is.

Ernest Doku, broadband expert at Uswitch.com, says: “It’s great to witness the increased uptake of ultrafast broadband, but we don’t want to see large swathes of the country left behind on shoddy connections that aren’t cutting it for modern life.

“Initiatives like the universal service obligation and Project Gigabit are helping improve connections at both ends of the spectrum, but there is a lot more to be done so consumers don’t get left behind.

“Of the 10 slowest streets, nine could have access to faster broadband, so we urge residents there — and anyone else unhappy with their broadband speeds — to do a quick search online to see what speeds they could be getting with another provider.”

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