UK Consumers Pay More for Broadband

A report by the the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated that broadband provision in the UK is more expensive in all but one of the 20 most developed countries in the world. Not only do we pay more, we also get slower top speeds due to old copper-wire telecommunication systems used in our exchanges. So we pay more for less - but by how much?

In the UK the cheapest deal equates to £1.81 for each megabit whereas people in Japan enjoy speeds of up to 100Mbps (compared to our 8Mbps or at a push 24Mbps broadband) which comes in at a price of just 11p for each megabit!!!! Of the countries surveyed only Slovakia had a more expensive average cost per month for broadband at £15 per month compared to our £14.50.

The pricing difference can in part be attributed to developing countries such as Japan dispensing with copper wiring and using fibre optic cables to transfer data - something the UK are looking to do but with such a large telecommunications infrastructure already in place this is not going to change over night. The best bet for super fast broadband connection is through cabled services such as Virgin Media- although their 20Mbps speeds are positively doddering compared to Japan!