No-one involved in the broadband sector is in any doubt that bringing superfast speeds to 90 per cent of the population and 2Mbit/s to all by 2015 will be tough, but an interactive map from Ofcom really hammers the point home.

The map shows the broadband take up, average speed and penetration of superfast services to all counties in the UK, colour coded to show five levels of access, and highlights just how much of the nation is underserved by quality internet access.

Almost all the outer reaches of the UK, particularly in Scotland and Wales, have little or no superfast coverage, and a high proportion of residents are on speeds under 2Mbit/s, which is next-to-useless for most internet services such as the BBC iPlayer.

The Highlands have 17.2 per cent of residents on speeds below 2Mbit/s and no superfast broadband connections, while Powys, Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Flintshire all have over 20 per cent of the population on below 2Mbit/s.

Overall, 14 per cent of all consumers with fixed connections (excluding superfast broadband) receive speeds below 2Mbit/s, although six per cent could upgrade to faster services.

For the majority, however, speeds are better, and 68 per cent of premises enjoy average speeds of 7.5Mbit/s, which also doesn't count superfast speeds.

Residents in Luton are the best placed to receive superfast services, where all exchanges are able to deliver up to 100Mbit/s from the likes of BT and Virgin Media.

Brighton and Hove has the highest take-up of fixed broadband services at 80 per cent, and Edinburgh has the fastest average speeds at 10.1Mbit/s, followed by Bristol on 9.9Mbit/s.

The map shows far more clearly than a list of figures that the UK is struggling to get itself hooked up to superfast internet. The geography of the regions which have been cut off is also telling; they are mostly remote, mountainous or coastal locations that ISPs struggle to serve.

Nevertheless, the government has at least made closing this gap a top priority, promising £830m to help private sector firms work in remote areas.

BT has also received funding from Europe to give all Cornish residents superfast broadband by 2014 and is looking at 4G technology to provide superfast services as well. Virgin Media is also looking at using telegraph poles to deliver broadband.

Ofcom map: Red areas are worst served with broadband, followed by purple, gold, light blue and green.

Mobile phone users should thank Ofcom for making their life easier after the telecoms watchdog brought in new rules today forcing mobile operators to provide a Porting Authorisation Code (PAC) within a maximum of two hours.

The code is required when a customer wants to switch network operator and keep the same number, but previously it could take days for this code to arrive. Ofcom now requires it to be given immediately over the phone or sent by text within two hours.

Ernest Doku, a technology expert at uSwitch.com, said the move would give consumers far more control over their mobile phone contracts by helping them to get the best deals, while keeping their all important number.

"The process of keeping your phone number when you switch networks has been extremely cumbersome and has been a major barrier to switching. Over 18 million have never switched network over concerns about losing their number," he said.

"Mobile numbers are as important as home addresses these days. Anyone who has lost their phone will know what a hassle it is to contact everyone you know with your new number - so of course people want to keep their number when they switch."

By a neat coincidence, research by mathematics analytics group Billmonitor has revealed that UK consumers could save billions if they switched their mobile phone contract to a tariff that more accurately reflected their usage levels.

The group analysed 28,417 anonymised bills from customers on O2, Orange, Vodafone and T-Mobile over the past 18 months and found that a whopping £4.89bn is wasted every year due to the wrong contract being used.

Some 52 per cent of customers have a tariff that is too large, while 29 per cent are on a tariff that's too small, so they pay extra charges, while 19 per cent do not optimise free benefits and allowances or use lower costs on 24-month contracts.

The site has launched an impressive tool to coincide with this release that requires access to your online billing account before generating a report specific to you that offers the best possible contract based on your usage.

So if you've always thought you could get a better deal, now's the time to find out - and if you can, there should be no issues around changing provider quickly and keeping your number.

This video from Billmonitor shows why so many UK consumers have the wrong mobile phone contract.