Broadband - Unsure Future for the UK

Stephen Timms, the UK's minister for competitiveness, warned last year that the UK risks falling behind in the race to providing super-fast broadband networks, claiming the situation to be "21st century's equivalent of the great arms race".

Timms drew up comparisons between our current broadband networks to those used in Japan and Korea, the world's leaders in broadband speeds, questioning why the UK should be allowed to fall behind.

The average advertised speed in Japan was 93Mbps in 2007, and South Korea's 43Mbps. Compare this to the average advertised speed of 10Mbps in the UK, with actual download speeds in the region of 4.5Mbps its easy to see where Timms is coming from.

The answer, it would seem, to stepping up our broadband networks is easy enough - a nationwide roll-out of fibre optic networks. The practicability and cost factors involved with such a roll out however, are where businesses and government officials start to stumble.

With an estimated cost of 7 to 15Bn, Ofcom, the UK's telecommunications regulatory body is having a hard time trying to convince any one company to invest.

It's been raised that what Timms didn't take into consideration is the concentration of residence in Japan and South Korea, where network speeds are at their highest. As, once you move out of the big cities and into the vast rural areas, the situation with slow or no broadband access isn't all that dissimilar to that experienced here in the UK.

Realistically it would seem that there is no "quick-fix" solution to the problem.

Various experiments and trials are being commissioned around the country with regards to implementing fibre networks, which will of course help towards the cause.

Moreover, even though it does not compare to other countries' networks, the UK is expected to be able to have the networks in place to increase advertised broadband download rates to 24Mbps over the coming years; which is a considerable improvement based on current standards.

Liam is a UK based author, currently focusing on broadband Compare cheap broadband online today.

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Usefulness of Broadband Internet Access

Broadband Internet is the American way when it comes to Internet service of choice. Americans love things that are bigger, faster and stronger. In the auto Industry we Americans are addicted to SUV's. Our fast food places have our favorite giant burger, like the Big Mac, and the all American Internet service of choice is of course, broadband.

Though we prefer bigger and better, there are those who are content with small economy cars, a burger from the dollar menu, and dial up ISP. No, these people aren't cheap, their frugal, and a wise group at that. In today's economy it pays to pinch your pennies. Some people just aren't impressed by high speed Internet since it cost's more.

What the frugal may be unaware of is the usefulness of broadband Internet access can far outweigh the cost and even save you some money. Not just a little money, a whole lot of it! I know, you're wondering how broadband can save money when it costs more than dial up ISP. In a word, technology. That's right, put your broadband Internet to work.

Broadband Internet can save you money in ways you never thought possible, like gasoline and wear and tear on your automobile. Broadband Internet can even save you money on entertainment cost's such as movie rentals, and music CD's. Broadband Internet even saves you time wasted browsing online, and for some of us time is money.

How can broadband Internet save money on gas? Just think about this, how much money in gas does it cost you to go out and rent a movie on DVD from the rental store? Just one gallon is over 2 dollars. How much gas do you burn making that trip each year? How much rubber is worn off your tires and how many miles is added toward the next oil change?

With broadband Internet you can download your own movies. Some online movie rental stores charge you the same amount for 30 days as your local rental store charges for 24 hours! You can even download some movies for free and burn them to DVD. The same concept applies to things like movies and video games. The list is endless.

Did you know broadband Internet can save you a ton of money on phone service? If you have broadband cable or DSL you can take advantage of VOIP or voice over Internet protocol. VoIP also known as broadband phone service can cost as little as 15 dollars a month, and the big advantage to this is it offsets the higher cost of broadband Internet access immediately.

Even if dial up ISP were free, it could never save you any money and is hardly as useful as broadband. I am sure you can think of other ways to reduce your cost of living by using broadband. So to the frugal I say, keep your economy car, order from the dollar menu, but by all means, take advantage of the overwhelming usefulness of broadband Internet access. You'll be glad you did.

Daymon Hoag is the founder of Cheapest Service where you can shop for Broadband - High Speed Internet - Cable - DSL - Wireless

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