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2009-12-12 11:57:35
The UK is trailing when it comes to next-generation access, new figures show.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
the UK is placed 21st out of 30 in terms of speed.
That puts it below countries such as Greece, Portugal and Spain.
The report suggests that countries that invest in fibre networks are likely to
see the best economic returns in other areas.
When it comes to broadband penetration, the UK is doing OK - placed 13th out of
the 30 OECD members.
But most of these subscribers still access broadband via so-called DSL (Digital
Subscriber Line) rather than via fibre.
Overall, nearly one in 10 OECD subscribers currently accesses the internet over
fibre.
In Japan and Korea, most people do; it is also growing fast in Sweden, Denmark,
Norway and the US.
The report finds that many governments are subsidising the rollout of new
broadband networks.
FASTEST BROADBAND NATIONS
It concludes that such subsidies are justified because of the benefits
broadband can make in four key sectors of the economy - electricity, health,
education and transportation.
"If you cut 1% off the costs of education, electricity, health and transport
you would more than pay for a fibre network," said Taylor Reynolds of the
technology division of the OECD.
"That is the type of thinking required by countries considering rolling out
next-generation networks," he said.
Broadband tax
With the UK's broadband population standing at nearly 18 million, take-up of
the technology is good but there are concerns about how quickly the UK is
rolling out super-fast services.
The government wants to see super-fast broadband available to 90% of the
country by the end of 2017.
Superfast broadband is generally regarded as speeds of 50Mbps (megabits per
second) or above.
Currently BT has plans to offer a mixture of fibre technologies to around 40%
of the country and Virgin Media has made cable broadband - capable of speeds of
around 50Mbps - available to half of UK homes.
The government has announced a 6 a year tax on fixed-line phones to raise
funds for the 30% of the country that it estimates won't get super-fast
broadband via existing commercial broadband plans.
It hopes to raise around 170m a year through the levy, although the
Conservatives have vowed to scrap the tax if they win the next election.