UK Superfast Broadband To Pass 250,000 Mark In April

Superfast broadband connections across the UK look set to surpass the 250,000 mark by the end of April, with Virgin Media and BT leading high-speed network providers.

Over the past year, broadband analyst firm Point Topic has recorded growing adoption of superfast broadband lines delivering download speeds of 25 Mbps or over.

According to the research, there were 175,000 properties using high-speed Internet by the end of 2010. Among these figures, 118,000 lines were provided by Virgin Media, with broadband speeds of up to 50 Mbps. BT carried out 54,000 installations and other network providers the remaining 3,000.

However, the total number has jumped from 175,000 to 236,000 in March. “At that rate, we should pass the quarter-million milestone sometime between now and the end of April,” said Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic.

Superfast broadband going rural

Although 250,000 makes up only one percent of homes in Britain – a “modest” figure according to Johnson – it suggests that superfast broadband could grow as significantly as first-generation broadband did ten years ago.

“We went on from there to reach over 13 million broadband lines within five years. Now we have over 19 million,” Johnson said. “It’s dangerous just to assume that history will repeat itself, but it’s still a good pointer to what will happen to superfast broadband in this decade.”

Meanwhile, in an attempt to boost next-generation broadband rollout, the UK government plans to offer £830 million to private companies capable of providing the superfast connection in rural areas.

In his statement, Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said the government can encourage broadband rollout by “stimulating competition and creating an environment in which business can flourish by removing barriers and cutting costs”.

Earlier this year, Ofcom asked telecoms giant BT to reduce its charges for rival ISPs in accessing its network in rural communities. The price cut would enable ISPs to allocate more bandwidth per customer, resulting in faster broadband services, said the regulator.