Europeans are not receiving the broadband speeds they are paying for, reveals a new EU study on fixed broadband performance, for the first time confirming the difference between advertised and actual broadband speeds.
The study presents the results of measurements taken in March 2012 from hardware devices installed in the homes of 9,104 participants across all EU Member States, including Croatia, Norway and Iceland, in peak times (weekdays 7:00pm to 11:00pm). A total of 3,065,341,850 measurements were taken across 75,978,173 unique tests.
The data collected shows that on average EU citizens receive only 74% of the advertised download speed that they paid for, with significant differences in the European national markets, most likely due to advertising practices.
This figure compares poorly to the USA’s average of 96% of advertised download speed. Nevertheless, the actual download speeds attained in Europe were showed to be considerably higher than those in the States.
The 74% EU download speed mark means that on average the download speed across all countries is 19.47 Mbps during peak hours. This mark varies significantly when it comes to different technologies: xDSL based services achieved only 63.3% of the advertised download speed, compared to 91.4% for cable and 84.4% for FTTx.
The upload speeds, however, are closer to advertised, shows the study, and reach 88% of upload speeds promised, or, in other words, 6.20 Mbps. FTTx services achieved the highest speeds by far (19.8Mbps).
The study is to run until the end 2014 and will include two more annual measurements. European consumers can measure their own ISPs performance by joining a community of volunteers that will be sent a small device to plug into their home internet connection. This device will then run a series of automated tests when the line is not in use.
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