Ofcom to produce broadband league table by April

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 9 Mar 2009 at 07:57

Ofcom intends to reveal which are Britain's fastest and slowest broadband providers by April, a spokesman for the telecoms watchdog has told PC Pro.

The regulator has teamed up with SamKnows Broadband to issue 2,500 homes with specially-adapted routers that measure connection speed and other variables.

Ofcom used the first wave of the research to reveal that the average British broadband at half the headline speed, back in January.

However, the highly-detailed research didn't reveal which ISPs offered the best and worst performance, even though such data was collected.

After a lengthy period of negotiation with the ISPs, an Ofcom spokesperson told PC Pro that the regulator "intended" to publish ISP-specific data in April, based on the second wave of data.

Alex Salter, chairman of SamKnows Broadband, told PC Pro earlier this year that "Ofcom really wants the ISPs to buy into the [testing] methodology."

"There is a lot of momentum behind Ofcom publishing specific ISP data," Salter added.

However, some of Britain's leading ISPs are understandably nervous of appearing near the bottom of a broadband league table that has been officially endorsed by Ofcom.

A source close to negotiations with the ISPs told PC Pro that one of the UK's big six broadband providers has questioned the sample size of the Ofcom/Sam Knows research, while others have raised doubts over the methodology.

The results of the survey could also have an impact on the Government's broadband policy. Lord Carter's Digital Britain report resisted the case for public investment in a fibre network, but if the research reveals Virgin's fibre network is streets ahead of its ADSL rivals, the case for public money - especially in rural areas that are unlikely to attract private investment - could be overwhelming.