Low broadband speeds hindering UK businesses

The Communications Management Association (CMA) has warned that Britain's businesses are being weakened by the UK's relatively slow broadband speeds.

A survey by the CMA, Ofcom and Openreach found that a third of UK businesses are not satisfied with their access to internet technology - a worrying number as the demand for next generation access (NGA) is expected to rise in the next two years.

The CMA has requested that the government introduce a nationwide plan to ensure NGA is available to businesses across the UK - vital as technologies like VoIP phones grow in popularity.

Director of regulatory affairs at the CMA, David Harrington, said the CMA had told the government of the necessity of such a plan last year.

He warned: "Fourteen months on, there is little sign of either a concerted or innovative approach to regulation and policy making, which the government acknowledged as recently as last September as being necessary."

Meanwhile statistics by Point Topic for the first quarter of 2008 show the UK is fifth in the worldwide list of broadband subscribers, with just over 16 million.

The USA was top in terms of subscribers, but Monaco, followed by Denmark, was top in penetration.