UK Broadband Adoption On A Roll According To BT

31 Aug 2010

UK broadband adoption is ahead of France, Germany and the US, according to the latest figures from BT.

The telecoms giant boasted that 15 million homes and small businesses in the UK now access broadband over its network. This is compared to the 200,000 connections noted in August 2002, an average of 5,000 new broadband connections a day.

BT claims that when Virgin Media customers are also added to the mix, the UK now has more than 19 million premises using broadband or 71 per cent of households. This propels the UK into first place ahead of France, Germany and US when it comes to broadband uptake as a percentage of households.

Olivia Garfield, strategy director at BT, said: "Broadband Britain has been a success story with widespread availability, low prices and high uptake. People were sceptical when BT backed broadband in 2002, but the figures speak for themselves with the vast majority of new customers choosing broadband over BT's network rather than alternative ones where prices are far higher.

"The story doesn't end here as BT is now investing a further £2.5bn to roll out fibre broadband to two thirds of the UK," she said. "This will help the UK climb the league tables for speeds, one of the few areas in which we don't lead the world."

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