TELEVISION AND BROADBAND provider UPC has announced it will upgrade almost all of its users to 20Mb broadband speeds next month.

The company, which says it provides 215,000 customers with broadband services, plans to roll out the higher speed to 99 per cent of them by the end of August. The remaining one per cent will also be upgraded, to a 12Mb speed.

UPC sales director Mark Coan said: “Our goal is to be the clear choice for Irish consumers. 20Mb as a minimum speed will allow everyone in the home to experience the web to its absolute fullest.” The company also plans to increase its monthly download limit to 500GB, but warned it would be increasing prices for around one-third of customers.

Ireland currently has a broadband take-up rate of 58 per cent, slightly below the EU average of 61 per cent. This has drawn criticism from technology business leaders including Google’s Eric Schmidt, who said last month that Ireland is being “left behind” in terms of internet roll-out.

Latest statistics from ComReg show there are just over 1.6billion fixed and mobile broadband connections in the Republic. You can test the actual operating speed of your connection here.