ISPA's Trefor Davies says FTTC will boost average broadband speed

Increasing the coverage of fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) networks across the UK could play a part in boosting the country up the broadband speed charts, according to Internet Service Providers' Association council member Trefor Davies.

In May, content delivery network vendor Akamai reported a drop in the UK's average broadband speed, from 5.1Mbps in the third quarter of 2011 to 4.9Mbps in the following three-month stretch.

This result saw the country ranked 16th in Europe for broadband performance, well behind The Netherlands, which took the top spot with an average speed of 8.2Mbps.

Mr Davies, who is also chief technology officer at communications provider Timico, said the average speeds will grow as more people get access to FTTC.

However, he acknowledged that the impact of the fibre optic broadband infrastructure on the UK's position in the European and global charts will be dependent on the upgrades that are taking place in other nations.

"The only issue from a UK position in the league table perspective is what is happening in other countries," Mr Davies explained.

"If everyone upgrades at the same pace then it won't make a difference."