Are You Missing Out on an International Market?

Are You Missing Out on an International Market?:
Have you heard about Europe’s Digital Agenda? If not, where have you been?
Europe is in a “digital race,” vying to be the first to offer high-speed broadband connection for all EU households by 2012 (a lofty goal) and a 50% subscription rate of more than 100 Mbps by 2020.
So where does each country stand? Interxion put together a visualization of the data, showing who is leading the pack. However, while compiling this information, it discovered that the race is presenting some extraordinary opportunities for businesses worldwide.

Click image to open full-size version (via Interxion).

Bulgaria leads the back in broadband connection, and has steadily held the lead for the past three years. However, notice the shifts in the graph – the most pronounced being the UK. In just three years, it jumped from a less than 6% share of broadband lines with download speed of at least 10Mbps in 2009 to 50% in 2011.
Why this large jump? The UK has the most Internet purchases online. The top left graph shows that 79% of B2C purchases are made online. Similarly, there is 45% of B2B purchases (putting the UK 4th among the race).
However, despite this lead, there is one major flaw: only 15% of UK businesses sell goods online.
This means UK businesses are not meeting this demand – opening up an opportunity for businesses worldwide to ride in like a white horse and supply the need for online e-tailers.
Moreover, the UK is determined to be the first country to reach the goal of having every user online. While some suggest the UK is lagging in broadband speed, one fact is certain: the UK has the biggest Internet-usage base in Europe, and those numbers are only expected to grow.