Figures from Ofcom’s latest European Broadband Scorecard show that the UK leads the EU’s five biggest economies when it comes to mobile broadband coverage, mobile broadband take-up, mobile broadband choice and general internet usage.
The comparison rated the UK against the other countries in the ‘EU5’: France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
There were 84 mobile broadband connections per 100 people in the UK (84%), which was the highest rate of penetration in the EU5. This means the UK has overtaken Spain, which was at the top of Ofcom’s scorecard last year. Spain currently has 54% penetration according to Ofcom’s new calculations, Italy 52%, France 44% and Germany 41%.
When it comes to fixed-line and mobile internet use, the UK had the highest broadband take-up (83% of households), the highest proportion of people who’ve bought goods online (77%) and the highest weekly usage of the internet (87%).
Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said “This is excellent progress for the UK, but there is more to be done. We want to see even wider availability of superfast broadband across the UK, so as many people as possible can enjoy faster speeds to access the internet. There is also more progress to be made to ensure consumers receive consistently high quality of service, including faster line repairs and installations for broadband and telephony.”
[European Broadband Scorecard 2014 (pdf)]