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Britain's next generation broadband access provision is likely to lag well behind demand, according to research from broadband monitor Point Topic.

The company's Broadband Geography tool has tracked the likely demand across the UK and compared it with the planned next generation access (NGA) rollout as outlined by BT. The results are not pretty.

“The case for more speed keeps rising,” Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic has said. “People are coming up against speed constrictions.

“At the moment BT are not really behind demand, but that will change as people realise other areas have better access than them, especially local authorities who will want to ensure they see the economic and social benefits of faster broadband.”

According to the figures, only 1.4% of the population currently has access to NGA broadband, which is understandable in the fledgling rollout. However, only 34% of the population is expected to be connecting via next generation technologies such as extended fibre networks even by the end of 2012.

Surprisingly, it is not only rural areas that are likely to be left behind in the race for NGA access.

“When you see the lists of exchanges it looks as if there's most of the country covered, but it's only when you put it on a map and look at the proposed figures for 2012 that you see it's only the most densely populated areas that are scheduled for next generation access,” said Johnson. “And many big towns are not even under consideration for an upgrade by 2012.

“Swindon is one of the most broadband-centric towns in Britain, but it has no NGA proposals.”

BT said it hadn't seen the Point Topic report as it was focussing on its financial reports for Q2, which reported a 45% drop in profits.