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Report: Europe outpacing U.S. on high speed Internet deployment

A report released by the European Commission late last month shows that eight European Union countries have achieved greater high speed Internet penetration than the United States.

Denmark leads the list at 35.6 percent, followed by Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. The EU added 19 million high speed Internet lines last year, equal to more than 50,000 households per day.

While this progress is impressive

, UNI-Europa Telecom, the trade union federation representing one million telecom workers in Europe, cautions that regulators must be careful to ensure that good working conditions and high quality of service are not left out of the picture.

It's clear our international competition takes high speed Internet seriously, and will continue to invest in improving and expanding access. For the United States to succeed in the global marketplace, we must become a leader in building out high speed infrastructure to create jobs and open up new opportunities for American businesses.

13th Progress Report on the Single Telecoms Market (European Commission)

European Countries Beat U.S. on Broadband, Study Says (PC World)

8 EU countries are ahead of US in broadband deployment (PublicTechnology.net)

The European Commission proposals for the regulatory framework for electronic communications (UNI-Europa Telecom)

EU Seeks Higher Broadband Penetration (Business Week)