Slow Broadband Speeds & Lord Carter’s Digital Britain

With the UK experiencing slow broadband speeds averaging around 3.6Mbps, it seems rather odd that Lord Carter’s suggestion in his recent Digital Britain report was for every home to have a minimum broadband speed of just 2Mbps.

In comparison to other countries such as France, Japan and Sweden, the UK is clearly lagging behind with its slow broadband speeds.

In fact, the difference between the figures is actually quite staggering. In France, the average download speed is 17.6Mbps, whilst in Sweden it is 18.2Mbps.

Japan is the world broadband speed leader with an amazing 61Mbps – which makes the UK’s paltry 3.6Mbps speeds look far from impressive.

Many people were hoping that Lord Carter would set Britain’s minimum broadband speed targets far higher in a bid to catch up with and compete with the leading countries. His less than impressive 2Mbps is certainly disappointing.

If the UK wants to catch up and provide a high speed, competitive broadband service that will drive economic success, then the minimum download speeds discussed by Lord Carter must be increased.