European business broadband 'improving'

The European business broadband sector is improving, according to a new report.

Akamai Technologies' 2011 State of the Internet study for the second quarter of 2011 revealed nine cities in Europe – including Riga in Latvia and Brno in the Czech Republic – are among the top 100 fastest cities in the world for broadband connection speeds.

Elsewhere, Italy boasted a 5.4 per cent increase in connection speeds between April and June, while more than half of all European nations listed internet speeds of 2Mbps (megabits per second) or over during this period.

Meanwhile, some 30 per cent of all broadband connections in the UK currently stand at speeds of above 5Mbps, which marks a year-on-year increase of 70 per cent and a rise of 18 per cent from the first quarter of 2011.

Communications minister Ed Vaizey recently expressed confidence that the British government will achieve its business broadband goals, with some £530 million of public money being allocated to the rollout of faster residential and business broadband services in predominantly rural parts of the country.