Newhaven internet slower than Mount Everest, study finds

The research by National Broadband found that Newhaven currently experiences slower internet than the Everest base camp in Nepal as well as within the Arctic circle.

Projections for the coming year suggest that in the near future the town could have worse speeds than the moon.

David Henell, director at National Broadband, said: "The disparity between digital 'haves' and 'have nots' in the UK is sadly growing. While the moon is set to gain dizzying broadband speeds of 100Mbps, those in rural areas are left struggling with near-unusable broadband speeds of less than 10Mbps.

"And we know that's just the tip of the iceberg, as there are over 500,000 properties dotted across the UK experiencing the exact same issues.

“This makes it very clear that just not enough is being done to close the digital divide in this country.

“At National Broadband we believe that every connection matters and we're proud to offer alternative broadband solutions and fast and reliable internet connectivity to those who are being left behind."

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Currently, average download speeds in Newhaven can be as low as 17mbps. At this speed, a high-definition two-hour long film would take around 15 minutes to download.

This compares with Mount Everest base camp, where internet speeds of 50mbps would mean the same film would only take five minutes to download.

Mount Everest

Under new proposals for high-speed internet on the moon in 2024, around 12 hours of content could be downloaded in the same 15-minute period.

National Broadband suggests that over half of properties in the UK would have worse broadband speeds than the moon by 2024.

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Rural properties would be most likely to be worst affected. In the South East, around 46 per cent of houses would be worse than 100mbps.

The survey also suggested the disparity in broadband speeds was a failure of the government’s levelling up agenda, with rural areas seven times more likely to be stuck with the slowest speeds.