Britain still falling behind Europe when it comes to Broadband

According to a research firm, Point Topic, Britain’s position as a prominent knowledge economy within Europe is in jeopardy because the country is still falling behind the rest of Europe when it comes to broadband.

A number of concerns have been highlighted over the past year with regards to broadband in Britain, including the broadband speeds that Britain offers compared to many other countries. It has now been revealed by a research firm, Point Topic, that Britain is falling behind the rest of Europe when it comes to broadband, and that this could have an impact on its position as a prominent knowledge economy.

The research from Point Topic suggests that over the past year Britain has managed to add only 963,000 new broadband lines leaving the broadband industry lagging behind its European counterparts. The research also showed that whilst many broadband providers had implemented price cuts to try and entice more customers many, like Virgin Media, had not managed to attract substantial numbers of customers.

The report also highlighted how the nation was still experiencing problems getting broadband to certain communities and parts of the country, such as rural areas, which was affecting broadband take up overall. Officials are now concerned that if the situation continues and Britain continues to fall behind it could have a negative and lasting effect on the nation and its economy.

One official involved in the research said that getting people online could prove difficult, stating: “It could prove hard to get the last 10 % of people online, let alone the last few percent. The UK has always been comparable to France in the number of people online, but it has slipped behind in the last year.”

Source – IT Pro Portal