UK broadband branded 16th slowest in Europe

The UK has the 16th slowest average download speed in Europe, according to new research.

The study by IT company Akamai, as reported by The Guardian, suggests that the country is falling behind other leading nations, and in particular those in Asia.

This is despite the UK generating more money online than any other country in the G20 and being home to one of Europe’s biggest games development hubs.

The study warns that the UK is beginning to miss out as a result, with companies able to transfer large files much quicker at speeds of up to 1,000Mps in other countries, compared to the UK limit of 80Mbps.

"Britain is being frozen out of the next industrial revolution," said former BT CTO Peter Cochrane.

"In terms of broadband, the UK is at the back of the pack. We’re beaten by almost every other European country and Asia leaves us for dust."

Whilst the UK is placing a large fire optic network across the country, only 400,000 get the full speed that the tech promises.

Unlike other countries which run fire optics directly to homes, BT has chosen to lay wires through the streets, and then uses copper to carry the broadband signal to the customer’s house, slowing the potential connection speed.

Russia meanwhile has 12 million homes with a direct fibre connection, whilst France has six million, with a promise to deliver the service to 70 per cent of customers by 2020.

BT strategy head Sean Williams said however that the UK did not need such a fast connection, as users would not need up to 1,000Mbps internet speeds.

"Eighty Mbps is more than people need," he said.

"We are not of the school that universal fibre to the premises is the solution."