London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jul 19, 2025

Internet access: 1.5m UK homes still offline, Ofcom finds

Internet access: 1.5m UK homes still offline, Ofcom finds

About 1.5 million homes in the UK still do not have internet access, a report by Ofcom has found.

The regulator has released its annual snapshot of online and media habits in the UK, which this year spans all three lockdowns.

It found 20% of children did not always have access to a device for online learning while schools were closed.

Ofcom said in total 6% of the homes had no internet access at all, at the time the study was carried out last month.

There were also 1% of adults aged over 18 who had internet access but chose not to use it.

Those without access were most likely to be either people aged over 65, or households with low incomes or financial vulnerability.

Among children, tablets were the most popular device for five to 15-year-olds in 2020, although 91% of 12 to 15-year-olds had their own smartphones. It was also found that 48% of three to four-year-old pre-schoolers had their own tablets.

Just over half of 12 to 15-year-olds said they had had a negative experience online in the past year, with the most common being someone they didn't know trying to befriend them.

Six out of 10 five to 15-year-olds said they made their own videos online and nearly half said they watched content on TikTok.

"We have seen a big rise in the use of TikTok during last year particularly among girls," said Yih-Choung Teh, strategy and research group director at Ofcom.

"The perception among adults is that it's focused on younger people but adults have increasingly taken up TikTok as well."

According to Ofcom, 21% of its adult social media users had TikTok profiles, although Facebook was the most popular overall with 83% of the adults in the study having a presence on the platform.

Gaming also became increasingly popular during lockdown, with 62% of adults and seven out of 10 five to 15-year-olds playing online games.

The campaign group Which? said it was very concerned about those who were getting left behind.

"It is vital that more is done to address this digital divide and ensure all consumers are able to access broadband connectivity, particularly as new networks roll out across the UK," said Rocio Concha, director of policy and advocacy.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose Alliance for Full Employment has released its own report on the digital divide, called for a national digital plan from the government and Ofcom.

"We have a generation that has lost out for more than a year on the education that they need, and will lose out when it comes to workforce qualifications, job prospects, and then income," he told the BBC.

"So we've got to heal this digital divide. And I think the government's got to act pretty quickly."


Good news - the year of the pandemic has seen a big fall in the number of homes without any internet connection as the need for services only available online has become more acute.

Bad news - those who are still living without the internet find themselves even more disadvantaged than before. And that applies particularly to children. While hardly any now live in homes without any internet connection, a substantial minority had either poor and expensive connections via mobile phones or devices that were inappropriate for online schooling.

This digital divide became a hot political issue during lockdown and there will be continued pressure on the government to make sure children have the digital tools they need.

But this report also shows that children are providing a forecast of where our media habits are heading.

It's a future dominated by video-on-demand and video sharing services such as YouTube and TikTok, with plenty of them creating content rather than being just passive consumers. However, broadcast TV was less and less of a habit - even in lockdown, it seems, fewer families were gathering on the sofa for a big TV moment.

But while there are concerns about the dangers in this era of ultra connectivity - half of 12 to 15-year-olds had had a negative online experience such as being contacted by a stranger - there are also signs that this generation is pretty clued up about how the online world works.

They were not far behind adults in recognising which results in Google searches were ads, and probably more savvy in realising that when an Instagram influencer plugs a product they are being paid for that.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
From Mystery to Meltdown, Crisis Within the Trump Administration: Epstein Files Ignite A Deepening Rift at the Highest Levels of Government Reveals Chaos, Leaks, and Growing MAGA Backlash
Trump Slams Putin Over War Death Toll, Teases Major Russia Announcement
Reparations argument crushed
Rainmaker CEO Says Cloud Seeding Paused Before Deadly Texas Floods
×