There's been some talk about net speeds in the UK, and how we're falling behind compared to other countries in Europe and further afield like Japan and Korea. The focus of these musings, is to decide on whether Britain should get a new fibre-optic communications infrastructure.
When I hear of hi-tech countries like Japan having easy access to internet speeds of up to 100Mbps, I have to wonder why we can't do the same. At the moment, our fastest connections over cable reach up to 50Mbps and that's only being trialled. Over the old-fashioned copper telephone network, 8Mbps ADSL is the highest most people will see and a few will currently be able to access 24Mbps. According the BBC News, the average speed in the UK is only 4.6Mbps.
BT are looking into the possibility of two fibre-optic based solutions - fibre to the home, which will offer speeds up to 100Mbps and will cost around £15bn, and fibre to the cabinet, which will see a maximum speed of up to 50Mbps, but will cost less at £10bn. Understandably, the price tag does not help convince BT to roll out such a network in a hurry.
Ofcom is also looking into this, but they are saying that due to "market and infrastructure conditions in Britain" being very different to other nations where there has been strong investment, we may have to wait.
You know, just once it would be nice to hear about how the UK is going to create a world-class communications infrastructure that will last well into this century, and although it will cost a lot initially, it will provide huge economic benefits allowing more trade and services to be conducted online for example. more reliable home working (as a side note, I work from home occasionally and whilst accessing the local council's internal network via VPN is usable, it can be very slow), commercial and Public Service Broadcasting could truely be revolutionised by the prospect of multiple television channels broadcasting over the net, new video-on-demand services could be launched allowing broadcast quality programming straight into the home over the net connection. The possibilities, I'm sure, are endless.
I may well be surprised though. There is the possibility of state intervention to get the network built. I wouldn't be adverse to taxes being used to fund it as long as it's built on-time and on-budget. That of course is the problem. When was the last time anything built by Government was on-budget. Just look at the spiraling cost of the olympics. Factor in that this would effectively be a massive IT project, and it's a recipe for disaster (NHS computer system anyone?) Not that I'm in any way cynical mind you!
It does need to be done in one way or the other though. The longer it's put off, the more noticable the divide will be between us and other nations. The term "digital divide" is often thrown about referring to the divide between those in Britain on the internet, and those who are not. The term can quite easily be applied to us Britains left with a slow aging infrastructure, compared to nations in Europe. This could be the digital equivalent of the railways!
Putting it simply, the money will need to be spent eventually. Let's do it now before we're at the bottom of the broadband league.
When I hear of hi-tech countries like Japan having easy access to internet speeds of up to 100Mbps, I have to wonder why we can't do the same. At the moment, our fastest connections over cable reach up to 50Mbps and that's only being trialled. Over the old-fashioned copper telephone network, 8Mbps ADSL is the highest most people will see and a few will currently be able to access 24Mbps. According the BBC News, the average speed in the UK is only 4.6Mbps.
BT are looking into the possibility of two fibre-optic based solutions - fibre to the home, which will offer speeds up to 100Mbps and will cost around £15bn, and fibre to the cabinet, which will see a maximum speed of up to 50Mbps, but will cost less at £10bn. Understandably, the price tag does not help convince BT to roll out such a network in a hurry.
Ofcom is also looking into this, but they are saying that due to "market and infrastructure conditions in Britain" being very different to other nations where there has been strong investment, we may have to wait.
You know, just once it would be nice to hear about how the UK is going to create a world-class communications infrastructure that will last well into this century, and although it will cost a lot initially, it will provide huge economic benefits allowing more trade and services to be conducted online for example. more reliable home working (as a side note, I work from home occasionally and whilst accessing the local council's internal network via VPN is usable, it can be very slow), commercial and Public Service Broadcasting could truely be revolutionised by the prospect of multiple television channels broadcasting over the net, new video-on-demand services could be launched allowing broadcast quality programming straight into the home over the net connection. The possibilities, I'm sure, are endless.
I may well be surprised though. There is the possibility of state intervention to get the network built. I wouldn't be adverse to taxes being used to fund it as long as it's built on-time and on-budget. That of course is the problem. When was the last time anything built by Government was on-budget. Just look at the spiraling cost of the olympics. Factor in that this would effectively be a massive IT project, and it's a recipe for disaster (NHS computer system anyone?) Not that I'm in any way cynical mind you!
It does need to be done in one way or the other though. The longer it's put off, the more noticable the divide will be between us and other nations. The term "digital divide" is often thrown about referring to the divide between those in Britain on the internet, and those who are not. The term can quite easily be applied to us Britains left with a slow aging infrastructure, compared to nations in Europe. This could be the digital equivalent of the railways!
Putting it simply, the money will need to be spent eventually. Let's do it now before we're at the bottom of the broadband league.