Average speeds in 42 towns and cities in the UK are less than 24Mbps, according to research carried out by uSwitch.

Workers would happily work from home if they felt they could still perform their job to the same standard, according to research by Citrix. The survey found that over half of workers (54 per cent) would not commute into London and would happily work from home if the internet speeds and transport links were to a similar level.

More than 122,000 homes and businesses across the Highlands and Scottish Islands are now connected to superfast internet. The 120 villages that would not have previously been reached under the wider rollout can now get the fibre optic broadband, with around 70 per cent of the region able to connect.

Research carried out by Cable.co.uk has shown that two-thirds of fibre broadband customers are not aware that their fibre service arrives at their home through a standard copper line.

Rural areas could be set to miss out on the new pledge set out by the government, which will require that households receive minimum speeds of 10Mbps by 2020. This confession comes from minister Ed Vaizey, who said that there were parts of the UK where installation costs would be simply too much and that the government would not be willing to cover their upgrade costs.

Rural businesses and homes that are unable to get the minimum broadband service of 10Mbps that comes as part of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) should be given some form of compensation, according to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).

The way broadband speeds are advertised is misleading for consumers and needs to be changed, a cross-party group of 50 MPs have said.

According to research carried out by Vodafone UK, one in five of Britons prioritise broadband over water or gas when they move into a new home.

The Plaid Cymru party has pledged superfast broadband by 2017 if they win the elections and gain power at the assembly, the party has stated. All homes would get access to this superfast broadband and would build on the original Superfast Cymru scheme, which aims to deliver fast internet to 96 per cent of Welsh homes and businesses by 2016.

The UK government has achieved the Universal Service Obligations (USO) targets set in 2010 of making superfast broadband available to 90 per cent of all homes.