UK tops Ofcom's European broadband leaderboard

Ethernet plug with fiber optic wire

Ofcom has revealed the UK leads the top five EU economies (EU5) when it comes to superfast broadband service provision.

The regulatory body's European Broadband Scorecard shows the UK's take-up, coverage, usage and choice in services is equal to or greater than 30Mbit/s, beating France, Germany, Italy and Spain's offerings.

This is the second time Ofcom has produced the report for the Government to demonstrate the UK's growing commitment to making superfast broadband services available to everyone.

Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said: "As part of the Government's long term economic plan, broadband in the UK is going through a remarkable transformation. The Government's rollout of superfast broadband is accelerating - Britons already do more business online than any other European country, and the news that we now have the best superfast coverage of all five leading European economies is testament to the progress made to date."

According to Ofcom's study, superfast broadband is available in 73 per cent of the UK, compared to 60 per cent in 2011, with nine in every 100 people in the UK accessing higher-speed services at the beginning of 2013.

Britons already do more business online than any other European country, and the news that we now have the best superfast coverage of all five leading European economies is testament to the progress made to date.

Spain came second in the study, with six in every 100 people signing up to broadband with speeds of more than 30Mbps in 2013.

Ed Richards, CEO of Ofcom, said: "This is excellent progress for the UK, but there is more to be done. We want to see even wider availability of superfast broadband across the UK, so as many people as possible can enjoy faster speeds to access the internet."

The research also revealed 87 per cent of people use the internet every week and 77 per cent had bought goods using the internet over the last 12 months.

However, the UK's ranking dropped when it came to price of available services. Ofcom analysed a range of different packages available in the EU5 and found the UK came either second or third on measures of the lowest available price.

Clare Hopping
Freelance writer

Clare is the founder of Blue Cactus Digital, a digital marketing company that helps ethical and sustainability-focused businesses grow their customer base.

Prior to becoming a marketer, Clare was a journalist, working at a range of mobile device-focused outlets including Know Your Mobile before moving into freelance life.

As a freelance writer, she drew on her expertise in mobility to write features and guides for ITPro, as well as regularly writing news stories on a wide range of topics.