Britain lags behind Europe on broadband development

The UK is lagging behind other European nations in terms of the development of high-speed broadband network infrastructure, a new report suggests.

According to a study of 154 countries by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Britain is the tenth most active user of communication services.

However, pricing of services such as broadband and VoIP is relatively high in this country which has contributed to problems of slow uptake.

The ITU also indicated that mobilebroadband has a "clear potential" to play a major role in broadband development and also connect more people in Europe.

Hartwig Tauber, director general of lobby group Fibre to the Home Council of Europe, told Computer Weekly that the "end-game" for operators is to install fibre with a view to providing a 100Mbps service.

Mr Tauber explained that Britain was viewed as "ahead" of the game when British Telecom launched its Openreach wholesale network, but has since fallen behind because it "has been fixated on 2mbps".

Ofcom announced this week that it will "clear the way" for investment in broadband infrastructure in the UK.