Press & PR

The amount of broadband penetration in the EU has burgeoned massively of late and is now on the same level as in leading countries like Japan and the US, a recent survey has found.

Penetration has grown by 16 per cent in the last six months, according to the European Communities Trademark Association's (Ecta) Broadband Scorecard.

A high-speed internet broadband connection is required in order to take advantage of functions like VoIP and it seems Europeans are increasingly catching onto the trend.

An Ecta report put the rise in penetration down to escalated competition due to new telecoms providers entering the market.

The new companies are taking advantage of using Local Loop Unbundling, which is the process of letting more than one telecoms operator use connections from the telephone exchange directly to the customer.

Innocenzo Genna, chairman of Ecta, said: "Europe's broadband leaders have shown that unbundling is very positive for consumers and is an efficient way to encourage competition."

Unbundling lets competitors "share the last mile" added Mr Genna.