In its Thursday-published report about fixed-line broadband in the UK, Ofcom has revealed that average broadband speed in the country witnessed a 22 percent increase - from 6.8 megabits per second (Mbps) to 7.6 Mbps - during the six-month period from May to November 2011.

Noting that the increase in the average broadband speed can largely be attributed to the upgrades which were offered by Virgin Media and BT, the Ofcom report said that even though UK's average home download speed is on the rise, the pace can be notably faster if an increasing number of users can be upgraded at minimal cost.

Further adding that most of the 42 percent of the UK households subscribing to speeds of 10Mbps or less will apparently stand to benefit if they switch deals or providers at little or no cost, Ofcom also said that the headline speeds
- that is, the `up to' speeds which advertisers claim for each package - are quite close to the actual average speeds, especially in case of fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) connections.

With the price comparison website broadbandchoices. co. uk terming the 22 percent bump in broadband speeds as a noteworthy achievement, the firm's product director Michael Philips elaborated that a 1.4Mbits real average speed bump helps the consumers save "around 6 minutes when downloading a 2 hour film."

Philips said even though this may not "sound a lot", it is important to note that "faster connections improve your general web-surfing experience and are definitely worth the investment, for example if more than one person shares the connection in a household."