The UK is lagging behind its neighbors and the rest of the world on broadband connection speeds according to the latest research from Ofcom.
Ofcom's International Communications Market data provides a snapshot of the £548 billion (€617 billion) communications market across twelve markets. The report reveals that a mere 10% of broadband connections in the UK receive a speed of over 8Mbit/s, compared to 26% in France, 33% in Sweden and 37% in The Netherlands.
The report should fuel pressure on the government to get the proposed Digital Britain blueprint implemented which includes a USO commitment to get the whole population online with minimum speeds of 2Mbit/s by 2012.
While the UK languishes behind on speed it does boast some of the lowest costs for broadband services. On the whole priced have decreased by 10.1% since 2003 to an average of around £16 per month, compared with £20 in the US, £23 in Italy and £25 in Spain.
Meanwhile on the mobile front the availability of 3G and HSPA connections in the UK remain some of the highest in the world, with 3G available to 93% of the population and HSPA to 91%. France has coverage of 77% for both HSPA and 3G, while Germans enjoy a coverage rate for both of 85% .
The UK does lead in digital TV conversion however taking the spot of the country with the highest proportion of households with digital TV on their main set, 88% in 2008, up 3% points in the previous 12 months in the run up to switchover. The US was next with 76% of households having digital TV, up by 6% points on the previous year, closely followed by Spain which had the highest year-on-year increase of 18%, with 74 % f households having converted to digital by the end of 2008.