According to the Local Government Association (LGA), households in the most deprived parts of England are less likely to be able to get fixed broadband which supports the fastest possible speeds. Access is 15 percentage points lower in the most deprived areas than in the least deprived, despite them using nearly 50 per cent more data than wealthier areas.
The LGA, which represents councils in England and Wales, has called for the appointment of a dedicated Digital Exclusion minister, who would be given direct government responsibility for a new strategy to close the gap between areas.
Last year, it emerged that the average UK home broadband download had hit nearly 60Mbit/s but the gap between UK households seeing the fastest and slowest speeds was widening as many customers upgraded to faster services.
Glasgow was identified as the city with the UK’s biggest broadband speed gap, with its quickest area getting speeds 866 times faster than the slowest,...