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Akamai finds UK has 17th fastest broadband in Europe
Britain's average broadband speed is just 5.1Mbps, Akamai has claimed.
In its latest State of the Internet report, the content delivery network claimed the UK has an average connection speed of 5.1Mbps, placing it 17th in Europe - well behind the Netherlands, which is top of the list with a figure of 8.5Mbps.
No British cities made it into the top 100 municipalities table, with locations in South Korea and Japan dominating this list. An average connection of 21.5Mbps saw Taegu, the fourth largest city in South Korea, come out on top.
In contrast, Bradford was the best-performing city in the UK, but its broadband speed of 6.7Mbps placed it 125th, while London lagged well behind with an average figure of 4Mbps.
Speaking to V3, Akamai's director of market intelligence David Belson said the results indicated the UK still has much work to do to catch up with other countries, but claimed funding programmes could help it achieve this goal.
Many governments have put forward money to improve broadband connectivity, but it will take time for the results of this investment to be seen, he stressed.
In Britain, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has committed £630 million to the rollout of faster internet services in towns, cities and rural communities as it aims to deliver the best super-fast broadband in Europe by 2015.
Some £100 million of this cash is set to be used to transform up to ten locations into "super-connected cities", complete with advanced mobile infrastructure and fibre optic broadband with speeds of between 80 and 100Mbps.
Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London are among the cities in the running for the scheme.
"Hopefully the people that are responsible for the allocation of funding and the projects themselves won't waste too much time providing what is necessary for this to happen," Mr Belson commented.