To stream silky smooth content in 8K you need really good broadband with some estimates suggesting a minimum of at least 80Mbps – 100Mbps.
The UK average is currently just 60Mbps, which means that millions of households are unlikely to get a buffer-free experience when they watch 8K streams on their shiny new 8K TV.
Of course, more and more households are slowly getting Fiber-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband with BT’s Openreach key for this plan. By 2026, around 25 million households should be connected to super-fast speeds – that is five million more than previously expected. Meanwhile, Virgin Media hopes to hit around 16 million with its gigabit-enabled connections (1,000Mbps) by the end of this year.
Some tech companies, including Samsung, are also working on scaling back 8K streams to reduce the amount of bandwidth needed before things come back up when the show hits the big screen in your living room.
