Broadband and USO Tracker
National Broadband Plans benchmark updated to reflect the change in the UK’s gigabit broadband target to 2032
We’ve updated the National Broadband Plans benchmark within our Broadband and USO Tracker to reflect the announced delay in the target date for universal gigabit-capable broadband in the UK. According to the Spending Review 2025, published on 11 June 2025, the Government is now aiming for 99% of premises to have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032, a two-year delay from the 2030 target established by the Levelling Up White Paper in 2022. Despite an initial preference for full fibre, the UK Government had previously repositioned its target to be technologically neutral and to allow for the use of alternative technologies to deliver connectivity, particularly to the most rural and remote premises.
According to our benchmark, eight other countries have set targets to deliver universal, or near universal, gigabit broadband coverage. With its new target, the UK ranks second to last, only followed by Switzerland, which aims to deliver nationwide coverage by 2033. Four countries – Finland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal – have all targeted 2030 for universal coverage. Denmark and Sweden have set the shortest timelines, having targeted complete coverage by the end of this year. Only Singapore has set a target for connectivity that exceeds 1Gbps in its goal to deliver universal coverage of connectivity capable of reaching 10Gbps by 2028. Most of the nine countries with gigabit goals (six) took a technologically neutral approach to delivering on targets, but three countries specified their plans to deliver coverage exclusively or almost exclusively via full fibre.
In addition to the nine countries that have set targets for gigabit-capable broadband, a further 10 countries in our tracker have set targets either to deliver certain speeds to all consumers or extend fibre networks to all consumers. France, Germany and India all set goals to reach ubiquitous fibre coverage, whereas seven other countries – including Belgium, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Spain and the US – instead aim for delivering ubiquitous high speed connectivity through a mix of technologies. Among these 10 countries, Canada set the lowest speed target at 50Mbps while New Zealand adopted the most extended timeline, aiming for ubiquitous fibre coverage in 2032.
