Broadband News
News, views and analysis
Broadband almost as essential as breathing, says consumer panel
03 Jun 2009 | 14.18 Europe/London
Now then, just how important is the internet connection in your life? According to a recent survey by OFCOM advisory group the Communications Consumer Panel 73 per cent of the 2,000 people polled feel that broadband is right up there alongside water, electricity and other utilities, while 84 per cent agreed that everyone should have it at home.
More interesting, however, was discovering who uses the Internet for what. Ninety per cent of people surveyed said that they went online for information gathering, while three quarters used it primarily for communication. Other popular uses were transactions (71 per cent) and downloading content (55 per cent).
"There is an expectation in our research that in the future more services will be delivered solely online or provided offline in a way that penalises people who access them in this way," said Anna Bradley, Chair of the Communications Consumer Panel. "Not having broadband at home will mean reduced options, opportunities and financial penalties. These findings make it even more vital for Government and industry to help consumers to get online and reap the benefits.
"The tipping point will be when broadband does not just provide an advantage to people who have it, but disadvantages people who do not. Interestingly some people already feel disadvantaged: those who live in not-spots and those who have school-age children but do not have broadband at home."
But hasn't this moment already happened? It's already easier to book flights and make travel arrangements, price check via the comparison websites as well as work from home or hunt for jobs on the Internet. The Consumer Panel blog added another interesting reason why Broadband is the most important thing in the world — although I'm not entirely convinced.
"If you have missed a popular TV show like Britain's Got Talent and you want to join in the water cooler conversation about Susan Boyle you can only do that after watching her on a TV catch-up service or Youtube." Ithangyew.
[BBC News and Consumer Panel]
More interesting, however, was discovering who uses the Internet for what. Ninety per cent of people surveyed said that they went online for information gathering, while three quarters used it primarily for communication. Other popular uses were transactions (71 per cent) and downloading content (55 per cent).
"There is an expectation in our research that in the future more services will be delivered solely online or provided offline in a way that penalises people who access them in this way," said Anna Bradley, Chair of the Communications Consumer Panel. "Not having broadband at home will mean reduced options, opportunities and financial penalties. These findings make it even more vital for Government and industry to help consumers to get online and reap the benefits.
"The tipping point will be when broadband does not just provide an advantage to people who have it, but disadvantages people who do not. Interestingly some people already feel disadvantaged: those who live in not-spots and those who have school-age children but do not have broadband at home."
But hasn't this moment already happened? It's already easier to book flights and make travel arrangements, price check via the comparison websites as well as work from home or hunt for jobs on the Internet. The Consumer Panel blog added another interesting reason why Broadband is the most important thing in the world — although I'm not entirely convinced.
"If you have missed a popular TV show like Britain's Got Talent and you want to join in the water cooler conversation about Susan Boyle you can only do that after watching her on a TV catch-up service or Youtube." Ithangyew.
[BBC News and Consumer Panel]
Spot on article! Broadband is already a utility, and the only shadow is the fact that britain's infrastructure is already maxed out, and adsl+ adsl2, adsl max or adsl anything is not gonna reduce the line lengths, bottlenecks and notspots. Despite the grand announcements and publicity for 'up to 20meg' it is still never gonna cope with next gen demands on it. The internet (thanks to the copper network) has engaged over half the population, but it can't cope with their demands, hence all the throttling and capping, so what is the point of govt spending money to 'engage' people if the infrastructure isn't gonna cope much longer? It is time to roll out the fibre. Upgrade the network to supply the digital britain of the future.
04 Jun 2009 | 19.47 Europe/London
"The internet can't cope with their demands" ?
What are you talking about ?
05 Jun 2009 | 08.46 Europe/London
I am talking about Iplayer, it won't stream. I am talking about the fact peeps can't send 4 minute movies to youtube in less than 2 hours. I am talking about lots of people on long line lengths not being able to login to online banking and on the third attempt they lose their pin number. I am on about not being able to share graphics files with friends. I am on about rural teenagers not being able to load their facebook pages in under 5 mins. Oh, lots of things like that. It isn't damn well coping any more with what people want to do. If we want these people to 'engage' then the infrastructure has to enable them to do it. Govt spend millions on rural enterprise schemes to 'engage' - they would do better running a decent connection to rural people. Lots of urban people are finding themselves in the same position too. The infrastructure that set us on our journey into the ether is no longer coping with the masses that are traveling along it. That is what I am talking about. We are demanding too much of it. Shall we go back to reading books and watching TV and let the rest of the world go by? Or shall we do like the Victorians did and build something to be proud of? 21CN BT network is a joke. They are milking an obsolete network for revenue. Time to invest. They have access to everything they need to do it. And it won't cost anything like the projected figures if you take into account the current unemployment, instead of paying dole we could pay tradesmen and women to do something useful instead.
06 Jun 2009 | 13.11 Europe/London
I see, but that isn't "the internet" - that's a small proportion of end user links. Last time I looked I could pull well over 100 Mbits/s over the internet into a data centre server.
07 Jun 2009 | 16.15 Europe/London