Slower broadband roll-out loses top ten position for UK

The UK has fallen out of the top ten of 30 nations in terms of the rate of broadband take-up, partly due to delays in the use of fibre optic networks.

Although the UK is placed in the top five in the list of nations encompassed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), there are fewer subscribers per 100 inhabitants, which has resulted in a fall from the top ten, reports broadband-expert.co.uk.

Despite the UK's prowess in terms of overall broadband subscribers and the spread of VoIP solutions along with mobile web connections, the relative lack of fibre infrastructure means Britain falls far behind countries such as Japan and South Korea in this category.

In relation to broadband subscribers by population, Denmark sits at number one, with the rest of the top three comprising the Netherlands and Norway.

The OECD research reveals that the UK has nearly 23 broadband subscribers for every 100 inhabitants and has almost 11.3 million connected users altogether.

Virgin Media and BT are among the most active internet service providers in terms of investment in next-generation technology.