The UK is set to trail Europe in the provision of ADSL despite the Government's stated goal that Britain will be a global broadband leader.

A joint report by European research companies, Van Dusseldorp & Partners and Screen Digest, found that Germany's early adoption of DSL means that it now leads the market in Europe and that it will build on that advantage over the next two years.

At the end of 2000 Germany had 400,000 subscribers. By 2003 that figure will increase to five million subscribers.

In contrast, France, the Netherlands and Britain will have just one million ADSL subscribers apiece by 2003.

Broadband Landscape Europe: Market Assessment and Forecast to 2003 concludes that with just 30,000 DSL subscribers, Britain currently lags behind its European rivals at number nine in the European DSL league table. Ireland and Portugal are the only European countries to have no DSL subscribers.

The report also claims that because of the geographic limitations of cable, DSL will account for more than two-thirds of the estimated 18.8 million broadband subscribers in Europe by 2003. ®