A new survey from mobile telephone and broadband provider Orange has predicted a shift in the population densities within the UK as a result of broadband availability in the future.

The report asked many people how they would respond to the universal availability of broadband and whether they would consider moving further afield if they were guaranteed a high speed broadband connection.

A majority of the respondents believed that universal broadband availability, provided predominantly via mobile broadband networks in the most rural regions, would indeed encourage them to up sticks and leave their current locations.

The availability of mobile broadband in Scotland and the South West of England would attract many new residents to these areas according to the report. Conversely a small exodus from the Midlands and the North East is anticipated by the results.

The main attraction of high speed broadband connectivity in areas currently underrepresented by the technology is the opportunities for remote working it affords. A mobile broadband connection that was fast enough to enable someone to work from home with equal effectiveness to that achieved by working in an office could completely change the face of the UK’s largest cities.

Orange’s Robert Ainger commented that the survey anticipates this population shift and forecasts a revolution in the way that people work. The survey data has been used to produce an interactive map which is available to the public online. Visitors are able to select an area to which they might consider moving and find detailed information as to how broadband availability is likely to change there over the coming years.

The news not only suggests that some of the cheapest mobile broadband in UK rural areas could soon become available, but that the potential savings for businesses as a result of the change in working patterns could be in the tens of billions of pounds.