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Hammersmith Bridge at night

Best south west boroughs for full fibre connectivity revealed

As the capital, London enjoys some of the best internet coverage and speeds seen across the whole UK.

However, there are still disparities between the city’s boroughs, where infrastructure differs.

Thanks to data from Ofcom, we can see which south west boroughs have the best internet connectivity.

Why connectivity matters

There’s a reason Ofcom and other government agencies are tracking internet connections – they matter.

Internet access is important for work, research and modern entertainment, and that isn’t going to change in the future.

Today’s businesses use the internet to market themselves and find audiences, while others exist wholly on the screen.

For example, streamed movies or online slot games are delivered using the internet and depend on their customers having a reliable connection.

These services are made to cater to the audience’s internet quality, so, for instance, the average user can play online casino at Paddy Power Games and load digital slots or table game live streams with ease.

Each slot features unique graphics to enhance the user experience, thus requiring a strong and steady connection.

Image of River Thames Central London (Unsplash)
(Benjamin Davies – Unsplash)

However, the average internet speed is always getting faster while certain communities across the country risk being left behind.

If that happens, poor-quality internet could lock future generations out of opportunities in the future.

Fortunately, London has some of the best internet coverage in the country.

With that said, there is still a divide in London’s boroughs between internet quality, one that has been reported on by The London Standard.

This is because we have three different types of internet on the go – superfast, gigabit and full fibre.

Despite its name, superfast is the slowest when compared to gigabit and full fibre.

Then, full fibre is faster than gigabit and is considered the most consistent and reliable.

London’s boroughs have already achieved superfast internet – the city average is 97.46% – so we’re ranking the southwestern boroughs on the newer, better full fibre rollout.

Every south west borough ranked

While London is fully covered by superfast broadband, the city average for full fibre internet is just 62.1%.

This means there’s a larger gap between the capital’s boroughs, in terms of who has access to high-quality internet and who doesn’t.

Find the data for all nine of our favourite boroughs below.

Data is sourced from this handy map provided by the UK Government, aggregating figures that were first collected in January 2024.

This means that these figures should be slightly higher now, after a year of progress.


Ranking
The BoroughFull Fibre Coverage (%)
#1Hammersmith & Fulham77.3
#2Wandsworth72.8
#3Lambeth68.8
#4Merton68.4
#5Sutton66.9
#6Kensington & Chelsea60.7
#7Kingston Upon Thames51.1
#8Croydon49.1
#9Richmond Upon Thames45.2
Source: UK Government

Unsurprisingly, Hammersmith & Fulham has the best full-fibre coverage so far.

Of all the boroughs in south-west London, Hammersmith & Fulham is home to the most expensive residential properties, so it makes sense that they’d receive full fibre investment sooner than other parts of the city.

At the other end of the table, Croydon and Richmond Upon Thames report sub-50% coverage.

Croydon is home to a lot of commercial buildings and flat accommodations, where installing new infrastructure can be difficult.

Richmond Upon Thames is home to the sprawling Richmond Park and other heritage sites like Hampton Court Palace or the Kew Gardens, where new infrastructure is unwelcome or unnecessary.

(Simon Wilkes – Unsplash)

Ofcom keeps close tabs on London’s internet coverage data, so there’s no doubt these figures will get updated in 2025.

Until then, Hammersmith & Fulham is the clear winner where full fibre coverage is concerned.

If you’re in a borough at the bottom of our table, you can expect further support in the future to bring its coverage in line with neighbouring areas.

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