The European Competitive Telecommunications Association or ECTA recently released the figures on broadband penetration across Europe, up to October 2008. Even though the UK generally finds itself quite low in similar lists, this time it has not performed too badly.
The overall results are quite positive with an average 20% annual increase in broadband connections in the EU, taking the overall figure to almost 110 million.
As usual, Scandinavia tops the list. Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands, all showed very good penetration rates of over 30%. The UK comes close behind with a penetration rate of over 28%.
Ireland, which had recorded a slow adoption rate during 2003-2006, still has a long way to go to catch up with the leaders. Poland too performed dismally with just over 10% penetration levels, placing the country at the bottom of the list.
The study did not take broadband speeds into account, thus it is difficult to compare the overall service levels in different countries. Click here for more info on broadband in the UK.
The UK broadband industry and the government can celebrate that it has been able to match the leaders in terms of broadband penetration, but they must remember that the overall broadband quality in the UK is still quite poor. Major improvements in terms of speed and quality, as well as a reduction in prices to increase accessibility, are needed to bring the UK at par with the leading countries.
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This entry was posted
on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 6:39 am and is filed under End Users, Internet Telecommunication Resources, Tech World.
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