UK moving up broadband rankings

When it comes to broadband penetration in Europe, the UK is woefully trailing 12 other nations. However, new research shows all is not lost as the country is set to move up through the standings.

Now four percent of UK households have broadband connections -- whether via ADSL or cable or the less popular access technologies of wireless and satellite -- but 10 percent of urban households will be connected by the start of 2004.

The UK will improve its standings if the statistics for September hold -- a quarter of all new European broadband connections were in the UK during that month.

The study, from analysts fdtm on behalf of Reed Electronic Research, showed cable operators NTL and Telewest have been given a boost by BT's high-profile ad campaign.

At the same time, most domestic users are attracted not primarily by promises of flexibility or nippy download speeds but by the flat-rate Internet access broaband offers.

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