The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) has warned that the UK needs to act and plan the future for broadband in the UK within the next 2 years to make sure that we do not fall behind and are ready for next-generation broadband.
Already we are seeing faster broadband speeds become available, way faster than the original standard broadband speeds of 512K when broadband originally started to become popular. Already we are seeing 8MB broadband be offered to customers as standard with speeds of 24MB also being made available utilising ADSL2+ technology.
Increasing speeds and falling costs mean that more and more are using broadband and using far more bandwidth as videos are now easy to view online yet are very bandwidth hungry.
It is feared if plans to upgrade the system are not thought out soon the UK economy and society could both suffer as demand for faster broadband is not available like it is in other countries.
Broadband speeds of 50MB are available in Europe as extensive investment is put into broadband communications. It is felt that FTTH (fibre to the home) is definitely the future but the costs involved in rolling this out across the UK could be upwards of 14bn.
Virgin Media have confirmed that they are trailing 50MB broadband to some customers in Asford, Kent. This will be though their own cable network and not using BT's copper lines.
Author: Mark Ward Copyright: BroadbandWatchdog.co.uk - NetMediaUK.com
