Europe will benchmark broadband speeds

BUREAUCRATIC MARVEL, the European Commission is starting a study into how well served the residents of Europe are with broadband connectivity.

The EC's project is being carried out with speed measurement firm Samknows and will see the Commission produce information on the speeds and reliability of local broadband providers.

This sort of information should make it easier for consumers to sign up to providers that actually deliver on their promises, something that continued rulings from the Advertising Standards Agency suggest that they do not.

Samknows is currently advertising for 10,000 volunteers who on receipt of a device called a Whitebox will be plugged into its study.

"Together, the European Commission and SamKnows aim to provide Europe with reliable and accurate statistics of broadband performance across Europe," it says. "If you are interested in helping us by hosting a SamKnows Whitebox, and playing a part in changing the face of the European broadband industry, then please sign up."

Consumers, ISPs, and other organisations will get access to the findings, according to a report on the BBC, and depending on where volunteers sign up from, and we hope it will be from a broad cross-section of countries and providers, it could provide a comprehensive name and shame list of weak broadband services.

"We are working towards a standard for measuring internet performance and a public dataset that everyone can access," Alex Salter, CEO of Samknows told the BBC.

"This is vital for everything from major government investment initiatives through to helping consumers choose which broadband provider and package." µ