New OECD research ranks UK in top five for broadband

New research from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has placed the UK fifth for the scale of its broadband market.

The study reveals that the UK has one of the highest numbers of broadband subscribers in the world, with over 17 million in December last year potentially installing VoIP solutions and shopping online.

Britain ranks behind only a few countries such as the US - which had 80 million subscribers - Germany and France, with overall subscriptions across the 30 OECD nations rising by nearly 15 per cent throughout 2008.

As of December, more than 20 people in every 100 throughout the OECD nations had access to a broadband connection, with the total figure approaching 270 million.

In the UK, Lord Carter recently announced plans to install a broadband connection of at least two megabits per second in every home in the UK by 2012, while BT has revealed it is to invest £1.5 billion in the development of next-generation networks.