Britain has the fastest growth in broadband penetration of any G7 country, according to a report by communications analysts Point Topic. 

This year has seen a 16.5 per cent increase in the number of broadband connections in the UK, a rise of over one million lines.

The only other G7 nation to come close in terms of growth is France, which enjoyed an increase of 13.5 per cent taking it past Germany as the most highly penetrated market for broadband.

The report noted that differing broadband technologies are competing in the market, but that DSL is the main player.

"DSL operators are still dominating the world broadband market with 107 million of the 164 million broadband subscribers opting for DSL, giving it a 65 per cent market share," said the report.

"China, Japan and the UK were found to have a substantial number of cable modem lines. In the UK cable operators NTL and Telewest added over 168,000 lines between them in the first quarter."

The US remains the largest global broadband market with over 36.5 million lines. China is in second place with 28.3 million, and Japan is in third place with 19.7 million.