Crap Towns / South Shields / Broadband
How bad is the broadband in South Shields?
In January 2026, 1.4% of premises in South Shields couldn't get superfast broadband (30 Mbit/s), 2.8 times the typical town's 0.5%. Of those, 85 couldn't even get 10 Mbit/s, the legal minimum. Gigabit broadband reached 92.3% of premises, about the same as the typical town's 93.8%.
| Broadband | Premises | Share | Typical town |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can't get 10 Mbit/s | 85 | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| Can't get 30 Mbit/s | 541 | 1.4% | 0.5% |
| Gigabit available | 36,028 | 92.3% | 93.8% |
| Town | Distance | % that can't get 30 Mbit/s |
|---|---|---|
| South Shields | – | 1.4 |
| Sunderland | 8.3 km | 1.2 |
| Jarrow | 3.6 km | 0.9 |
| East Boldon and West Boldon | 3.7 km | 0.9 |
| Hebburn | 5.8 km | 0.7 |
| Tynemouth | 4.8 km | 0.7 |
| Wallsend | 6.6 km | 0.5 |
| Shiremoor | 8.3 km | 0.4 |
| Whitley Bay | 8.1 km | 0.1 |
| Whitburn | 4.7 km | 0.1 |
| Boldon Colliery | 3.9 km | 0.0 |
| The typical town | – | 0.5 |