Best broadband in Europe?

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A good broadband connection is something that it's easy to take for granted - just a few days without the internet speed we are accustomed to can leave the best of us bashing the keyboard and clicking the mouse in frustration. So it may come as good news to many that Communications Minister Ed Vaizey reiterated earlier this year that the UK will have the best broadband service in Europe.

And this confidence could not come at a better time. According to a report in October 2011, the UK was ranked 25th in Europe in terms of broadband speed - something that the government is committed to changing. It believes we will have the best service by 2015.

Life in the fast lane?

Once obvious question is this: what does the government mean by having the 'best' superfast broadband speed in Europe? According to Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) - the government's vehicle for bringing about the changes - the definition measures access and price in addition to speed.

Under current plans, the government aims to have everyone in the country up and running at a speed of 24Mb by 2015. For some, this may seem a rather long way off. The UK average speed is just 6.8Mb, according to regulator Ofcom, which highlighted the disparity in local speeds last summer.

And this can vary hugely, according to uSwitch.com. The price comparison and switching service underlined the vast gulf separating the average download speeds endured by residents of Cranbrook in Kent - just 1.32Mb - with that of Leamington spa in Warwickshire, where users can expect an average of almost 19Mb.

Problems in the pipeline...

But where does this leave us at the local level? After all, as internet access becomes an increasingly important component of modern life, it's easy to imagine people shying away from living in an area with notoriously low connection speeds.

In an attempt to address this, BDUK is running four pilot projects in rural areas - North Yorkshire, Highlands and Islands, Herefordshire and Cumbria - to understand the factors involved in bringing superfast broadband to country communities.

And with up to a quarter of a million homes in Britain are currently without broadband access, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt recently stepped in to help keep the changes ticking over. He warned councils that they stand to miss out on millions of pounds in funding if they fail to sign broadband contracts by the end of 2012.

A recent report suggests that councils are going to find it difficult to come up with money to supplement the government help - an integral part of gaining access to the £530 million pot. According to Socitm, the professional body for ICT workers in public services, the hurdle of raising funding to push broadband into rural 'not-spots' could prove a "big ask".

But regardless of where you live, there are some things you can do to help maximise the performance of your home broadband:

• Try to avoid downloading or streaming content at peak evening times
• Ensure your wi-fi is password-protected to block internet leeches
• Stay close to your broadband router - and adjust its performance if necessary
• Update your favourite browser to the latest version
• Close unwanted applications running in the background

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