Thanks to the commitment of broadband ISPs and telecommunications companies 99% of homes in the UK should be able to receive at least one variety of broadband to access the internet at the speeds that are required by the data heavy online world of today.

However, depending on the area in which you live there may be restrictions on your service and some types of broadband may not be available to you, and if you're in a particularly isolated area you may come across more bother than most. Here's a quick round up of the main broadband services and their availability.

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ADSL Broadband

This is the most common and widely available form of broadband in the UK, largely because it can operate over your existing BT landline and the only requirement is that your local telephone line exchange has been adapted to operate an ADSL broadband service.

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There are a few exchanges around the country which may still not have been upgraded to provide ADSL broadband services, but these are usually limited to rural areas in which only a few customers are served by the exchange. BT are continually working to upgrade even their most rural systems in order to provide ADSL broadband as an option for all of their customers.


The second problem with ADSL is that the download speed which you are able to achieve will rely heavily on the length of the telephone line connecting you to your local telephone exchange, and it's rare that you'll be able to achieve the advertised 'maximum' download speed. If your line is long then the ADSL signal will weaken and the speed will be lower.

However, there are improvement being made in ADSL technology, and in the key urban centres of the UK you can sign up to ADSL broadband that is capable of up to 24Mbps download speeds. You'll need to use an ISP website or a broadband comparison site to check which ADSL services are available in your area.

Cable Broadband

Unlike ADSL, cable broadband will be delivered via an underground cable which will more often than not come bundled as part of a TV and phone package, with all three services operating over the same line. This is the second most common form of broadband internet, but the areas of the country which are cabled is again limited. The benefit of cable is that new fibre optic technology is allowing speeds of up to 50Mbps, and because of the way that fibre optics work it doesn't matter about the length of your line.


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Mobile Broadband

The most recent addition to the broadband internet family is mobile broadband. Unlike the other two types it requires no landline but instead operates over the most recent generation of mobile networking technology which allows a broadband speed internet connection to be accessed from anywhere within the range of a cellular tower equipped with the cutting edge equipment.

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As with the other varieties of broadband it is easy to compare broadband packages and find out whether you are in an area that has mobile broadband network coverage, and again you will be most likely to receive the best service in an urban area.

Satellite Broadband

This is a rare and expensive form of broadband that doesn't offer great speeds for your money, but might be considered by someone living in an area that is not catered for by any other form of broadband.