A new study by the European Commission (EC) has revealed that consumers receive just 74% of the advertised speeds of their broadband package they paid for at peak times.
The study found that the average download speed across all countries and all technologies was 19.47 Mbps during peak hours.
According to the study, 91.4% of cable customers received close to their advertised download speeds, with an average of 33.1Mbps.
The commission said that fibre was fastest with an average of 41.02Mbps and across Europe, the average upload speed was 6.20 Mbps, representing 88% of advertised upload speeds.
European Commission VP Neelie Kroes said this is the first time the difference between advertised and actual broadband speeds is confirmed by comparable and reliable data from all EU Member States.
"There are significant differences in the European national markets, most likely due to advertising practices," Kroes said.
"Consumers need more of this sort of data to help make informed choices, so we will repeat the exercise. And we take these first results as further proof of the need for a real connected single market."
The commission said study will run until end 2014 and two more annual measurements are planned.
The study will allow European consumers to measure their own ISPs performance by joining a community of volunteers across all EU27 countries and also Croatia, Iceland and Norway.
