Guide to gigabit broadband: What is it and can I get it?

Phil Wilkinson-Jones | February 14th, 2023

Gigabit broadband has been talked about with the industry for years. But it will still be an unfamiliar term to most people. Not least of all because in the UK it is still hard to get hold of. It's a lottery.

In this guide we'll explain exactly what gigabit broadband is, what it allows you to do and whether it's something you can even get. Spoilers: you may just be in luck.

What is gigabit broadband?

Gigabit broadband refers to speeds of 1Gbps (one gigabit per second) or faster, and is more commonly referred to as ultrafast broadband. A gigabit is equivalent to 1,000Mbps (one thousand megabits per second) and is, to put it simply, very fast indeed. To give those numbers a bit of context, Ofcom says the UK's average broadband speed is 80Mbps.

These gigabit speeds are delivered using a technology called fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP). This is when fibre cables are used for every part of the journey between the telephone exchange and your home. You may well already have fibre broadband at home but this is likely to be fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC), so-called because the fibre cables only reach as far as your local roadside cabinet; the final stretch from the cabinet to your home uses copper telephone cables. Or you might have a Virgin Media service, which runs on its own network of coaxial cables that can provided gigabit speeds.

Upload speeds

As well as the extremely fast download speeds we've already mentioned, gigabit internet also means fast upload speeds. Some gigabit broadband packages are symmetrical, which means the upload and download speeds are the same.

Good upload speeds are vital for online gaming and also for anyone that regularly uploads files – whether that’s sending photos by email or saving files to the cloud. A decent upload speed is also necessary for anyone using video-calling software such as Whatsapp, Skype, Zoom or Facetime.

What can I do with gigabit internet?

As a pure demonstration of the speed, a gigabit fibre connection would allow you to download a two-hour HD movie from Netflix in 30 seconds. But honestly, how often do you actually download a movie? You are more likely to notice the difference doing one of the following activities.

• UHD streaming – While you may not download films that often, the chances are that you stream most of your TV over the internet. A superfast fibre broadband connection will almost always be good enough to stream the likes of Netflix or iPlayer, but with more live 4K/Ultra HD content being produced, gigabit broadband would future-proof you against the tedium of buffering
• Gaming online – There's nothing more frustrating than a poor connection letting you down just as you were about to finally beat that annoying 11-year-old who keeps destroying you on FIFA. Gigabit broadband promises reduced latency and offers those speedy upload speeds you've been crying out for. But even more important, downloading hefty new titles is quick and breezy
• Sharing big files – Whether we like it or not, working from home is fast becoming the norm. Many of us are already familiar with the pain that comes from trying to transfer giant files as a deadline approaches. A gigabit broadband connection would ensure the problem isn't at your end at least
• Immersive media – OK, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) haven't quite taken off as they were expected to in the past couple of years, but these are still new technologies with the potential to come into their own. They'll eat up a lot of bandwidth, however, so speedy broadband will be a must
• Reliability – It's not just the increased speed that will make gigabit broadband more reliable. The fibre technology used to deliver it is less prone to degradation or interference than the aged copper cabling used at the moment

Which providers offer gigabit broadband?

It's fair to say we're still a few years away from gigabit speeds being found in the average household. That average UK speed we mentioned earlier – 80Mbps – is now getting faster on an annual basis however, which indicates that ever faster connections are now being rolled out, by both Openreach and Virgin Media.

So if you want to future-proof yourself, if you are running a business from home, or if you just like bragging about your broadband speeds, the chances of getting gigabit broadband are increasing all the time, although, as ever with broadband, it is hugely dependent on where you live.

• Virgin Media broadband – Virgin is rolling out a gigabit service called Gig1, which promises average download speeds over 1Gbps, upload speeds of 56Mbps and no traffic management. Before you get too excited, bear in mind that Virgin's network doesn't cover the whole of the UK and the rollout of Gig1 is still ongoing. It will eventually reach 15 million homes though, so long-term this could be your best bet for gigabit connectivity
• BT broadband – BT is now offering its Full Fibre broadband, courtesy of Openreach, with download speeds of up to 900Mbps (and upload speeds of 110Mbps) now available in some areas. However, coverage is still very limited, albeit spreading all the time
• Vodafone broadband – Vodafone is another provider that now also offers gigabit broadband – which it refers to as Gigafast – courtesy of both the independent City Fibre network and Openreach’s ultrafast, offering up to 900Mbps
• EE broadband – Part of the BT group, EE also uses Openreach to supply its broadband and so can also now provide its Full Fibre Max service with speeds up to 900Mbps to customers fortunate enough to live in the early rollout areas
• Hyperoptic – Hyperoptic specialises in supplying broadband to large apartment buildings and new-build housing estates. It's gigabit package offers average download and upload speeds of 900Mbps
• Gigaclear – Gigaclear provides full fibre services to rural communities. Like Hyperoptic, it's top 900Mbps is symmetrical, offering the same average upload and download speeds
• TalkTalk broadband – TalkTalk offers gigabit broadband on the UFO (Ultra Fibre Optic) network in York, the result of a joint venture with Sky and CityFibre in 2015. Around 60,000 homes in the city should be able to take advantage of the service. It is also now extending its ultrafast services to a number of other towns and cities.

Can I get gigabit broadband in my area?

The chances are that right now, you probably can't get gigabit broadband where you live, unless you are in a Virgin Media area, in which case you will be in luck as Virgin now offers Gig1 to everyone. But with a number of rollouts taking place, there's a good chance that a full fibre network will be coming to your area in the coming years. For now, these are the locations the providers say you can get gigabit broadband, but if you're serious then you should certainly use their postcode checkers to find out for sure.

Hyperoptic

You may be fortunate enough to live in an apartment block or housing estate already served by Hyperoptic. If not, you'll need to get enough of your neighbours to request a connection for Hyperoptic to be able to bring its services to you. Big blocks of flats in city centres, particularly those in London, are the most likely to be successful with this.

Gigaclear

The rural specialist currently serves more than 200 communities, but these are in remote locations that in most cases, BT doesn’t serve. If the big providers won't come anywhere near you, that's when Gigaclear might be your best bet.

Vodafone

Vodafone's uses both the CityFibre network and Openreach’s ultrafast network to supply its Gigafast service. It currently covers a large number of locations, including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Cambridge, Coventry, Edinburgh, Huddersfield, Leeds, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Peterborough, Southend-on-Sea and Stirling. Joining that list imminently are Barnsley, Bath, Bolton, Bradford, Crawley, Derby, Dewsbury, Gloucester, Harrogate, Medway, Middlesbrough, Nottingham, Reading, Sunderland, Weston-Super-Mare and Worcester.

TalkTalk

TalkTalk offers gigabit speeds to around 60,000 properties in the York area courtesy of its Ultra Fibre Optic service. It also offers up to 500Mbps via the CityFibre and Openreach networks to Aberdeen, Bolton, Bournemouth, Doncaster, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Worthing, Ipswich, Inverness, Cambridge, Coventry, Stirling, Leicester and Leeds.