The UK has come near the bottom in a table showing the average broadband speeds in a number of countries, as revealed in a recent Ofcom report carried out by the OECD (Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development).
The report, titled the ‘International Communications Market Report’, showed the UK coming in 21st position out of a total of 30 countries.
The report revealed how only 10% of UK connections receive speeds of over 8Mbps, compared to 26% in France, 33% in Sweden and 37% in The Netherlands. The figures will put more pressure on the government in its bid to provide speeds of 2Mbps for everyone in the UK by 2012.
The top performers were Japan, Finland and Sweden, with the bottom three places occupied by Belgium, Turkey and Mexico.
On the plus side, prices for broadband are comparatively low in the UK. Since 2003, prices have decreased by 10.1% and now average £16 a month. This compares to £20 a month in the United States, £23 a month in Italy and £25 a month in Spain.
The availability of 3G and HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) technology is also at one of the highest levels in the world. 3G has 93% availability and HSPA has 91%. France, in comparison, has 77% for both and Germany 85% for both.
But the UK was only 13th in terms of broadband penetration, beaten by countries including Denmark, Sweden and Finland, so there is more to do in this area. Overall, the report reveals that there are still big improvements to be made in terms of UK broadband.
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