The Cast Iron Park Bench

The European Competitive Telecommunications Association (ECTA) has recently revealed the broadband penetration levels of the 25 member countries of the European Union. The figures were released for the period up to October 2008, and they looked into the adoption levels of broadband and Local Loop Unbundling (LLU) across the EU.

According to the results, the number of broadband connections in the EU is now over 110 million due to an average 20 percent annual increase. Countries that have performed exceptionally well are mostly Scandinavian, with Denmark, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands having broadband penetration levels of around 30 percent. Incidentally, Sweden has also attained a very good rank on the list of the 20 best mega-fast fibre optic broadband countries of the world.

Ireland has not performed very well in terms of broadband penetration, as it is still recovering from the slow progress it made from 2003 to 2006. Poland too has performed miserably, and is currently the last on the list with a penetration rate of only around 10 percent.

For the UK, things are not too bad this time. Usually, it finds itself at the bottom of such lists, however this time it has achieved a good rank with a penetration rate of almost 28 percent. Take a look at www.broadbandgenie.co.uk for broadband UK.

Although the ECTA results have now clearly shown the good broadband adoption levels in various countries across Europe, the study does not cover the aspect of speed and quality. Thus, comparing the overall success of broadband in these countries becomes a bit difficult, for example, despite the good penetration levels, broadband in the UK is nowhere in comparison with countries like Sweden.