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The survey looks at a variety of factors, including speed, coverage, price, competition and take-up of advanced services, and the UK fared well in all but speeds and take-up of advanced services such as ecommerce, online banking, e-Government, and downloading of entertainment and software, particularly by businesses.

Sweden and The Netherlands were out in front, with the report praising them for "a high propensity to use advanced services and a competitive environment that has ensured affordable prices and high speeds".

The UK was in a second "cluster" behind third-placed Denmark and ahead

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of Norway and France.

Slovakia, Lithuania, Poland, Cyprus and Romania sit at the bottom of the scale, suffering from one or more of high prices, poor coverage and socio-economic factors, such as the level of PC usage and skills.

The report says that the Index has succeeded in demonstrating that there is more to evaluating broadband performance than a simple analysis of penetration rates.

"Even in some of the leading countries, the results highlight weaknesses (in particular prices and speeds), apparently due to a weak competitive environment. Elsewhere, competition has translated into low prices and high speeds, but users have a low propensity to take up advanced services. In several Member States, the socio-economic context, resulting in low skills and a correspondingly low interest in advanced services, appears to be an important barrier to further development."

For more information see: Commission Staff Working Paper: Indexing Broadband Performance.