UK may trail Europe on next-generation broadband

UK take up of 100 Mbit/s broadband may be delayed until 2015

The UK will not deploy 100Mbit/s broadband until 2015 if current trends remain constant, according to research.

The study by not-for-profit organisation Fibre to the Home (FttH) Council says high-speed services will reach early adopters in the UK 10 years after Sweden, five years after France and four after Poland.

The claim is based upon Nielsen's Law, a theory which states that connection speeds at the upper end of the broadband market will increase 50 per cent per year, multiplying 7.5 times after five years. Mainstream connections are forecast to lag two to three years behind the fastest connections.

The UK market currently fits the law's predictions, which were originally made in 1998. However, both Sweden and France have already surpassed their expected rate of take-up, with former leading the European race for adoption.

The study was conducted on behalf of the FttH Council by consultants Ventura.