Poll Claims UK Government Must Set Faster Broadband Speed Targets
The latest ISPreview.co.uk survey has reported that 81.5 Per Cent of UK internet users claim to currently require a minimum real-world broadband speed of 10Mbps (Megabits per second) or more, yet only 34% reported being able to receive their desired speed. The results could spell trouble for the government's target to offer a minimum download speed of at least 2Mbps to everybody by 2015.
- (1888PressRelease) September 25, 2012 - A new web-based ISPreview.co.uk poll of over 1,600 Internet users in the United Kingdom (*) has learned that 81.5% of respondents claim to "require" a minimum real-world broadband download speed of 10Mbps (Megabits per second) or more but only a third (34%) actually receive their desired speed.
Furthermore 63% said that their broadband speed was no better than it was last year, which is despite Ofcom's latest study (**) showing that the average broadband download speed had jumped from 7.6Mbps in November 2011 to reach 9Mbps in May 2012 (a change of +19%). But the regulator cautioned that most of the increase was down to the often disproportionate impact of new superfast broadband services in urban areas, while those in rural areas recorded only a minimal improvement (from 3.3Mbps to 3.5Mbps over the same period).
The Question: What minimum real-world broadband speed do you CURRENTLY require for your needs (respondents were asked to pick the closest match)?
30Mbps+ - 31.8%
10Mbps - 25.4%
20Mbps - 16.8%
5Mbps - 13.5%
15Mbps - 7.5%
2Mbps - 4.7%
"The study reveals a strong demand for faster connectivity and suggests that the vast majority of respondents would be unhappy with the UK government's current Universal Service Commitment (USC), which aims to make a minimum broadband speed of at least 2Mbps available to everybody in the country by 2015," said ISPreview.co.uk's Founder, Mark Jackson. "Clearly 2Mbps isn't enough with only 4.7% of respondents claiming to need such a speed and everybody else wanting something far faster."
"It seems increasingly pointless to set such a low target when Europe's own Digital Agenda expects 100% to have access to a download speed of at least 30Mbps by 2020. If the new culture secretary, Maria Miller MP, really wants the UK to have the 'best broadband of any major European country by 2015' then she might need to step up and raise the minimum target," concluded Jackson.
*
Online poll conducted between 20th August 2012 and 24th September 2012 with 1613 UK internet connected readers of the ISPreview.co.uk website.
**
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2012/08/ofcom-report-finds-uk-average-broadband-speeds-rise-to-mbps.html
###
space
space
Satisfied Users & 
Approved Press Releases
Print
Email
Report Spam