The Broadband Performance Index (BPI)

 

In a short space of time, high-speed internet (broadband) has become fundamental to modern economies. It has changed the way we access the internet and how we use it. The European broadband market is developing rapidly with some European countries being world leaders.

As the market grows, there is an increasing need to analyse the underlying conditions in the Member States so as to assess the EU readiness to progress in the development of broadband. Different factors may impact on the take-up of broadband services and result in increasing gaps between Member States.

Differences are visible not only in terms of penetration rates but also in coverage, speeds, prices and level of usage, as a result of competition and other socio-economic factors. The consequence is that the overall patterns of broadband development in the European Union are increasingly fragmented. Close monitoring of broadband markets, taking into account all relevant variables, is crucial to provide a fair, reliable picture of how the broadband market is evolving in each Member State and in the European Union.

The new Broadband Performance Index (BPI) benchmarks the overall performance of the Member States on a range of factors, which include speeds, rural coverage, affordability, innovation and other socio-economic dimensions. The European Commission has presented the first results of the BPI:

 

• Commission Staff Working Paper: Indexing Broadband Performance

• Detailed results by dimensions

• Press release

• Fact sheet on the BPI

• Methodology for the collection of data on broadband prices and on broadband speeds and coverage

• Eurostat survey on the use of internet in households and enterprises

• Commission Communication on future networks and the internet

• Future networks and the internet

• NEW: updated version of the Broadband Performance Index was included in the Digital Competitiveness Report adopted by the Commission on 4 August 2009