European Commission launches EU-wide study into broadband performance

The European Commission (EC) is to undertake its largest ever study into broadband speeds across the region to gain an insight into the work needed to reach its ambitious Digital Agenda targets. The EC has set a goal of providing all citizens with 100Mbit/s connections by 2020, and is hoping to persuade 10,000 volunteers across 30 nations to send data on their broadband speeds. The project will be run by UK firm SamKnows, which has already conducted similar studies with Ofcom in the UK and the Federal Communications Commission in the US. Volunteers will be sent a small 'SamKnows Whitebox' to plug into their internet connection which automatically measures broadband speed and performance. The first readings will be sent back to SamKnows within the coming weeks as the devices are rolled out, and SamKnows chief executive Alex Salter said that the EC is likely to produce the first results in the new year. The project is being run across all 27 member states plus Croatia, Iceland and Norway. Citizens wanting to take part can register at http://www.samknows.eu/.

http://www.ejc.net/media_news/european_commission_launches_eu-wide_study_into_broadband_performance/