Broadband Britain – The Stone Ages
I was reading an article on the BBC about broadband in every home by 2012. For a start, the government have been going on and on about this for years and every time they push the date back. I would like to know how they are going to persuade British Telecom to invest in more ADSL exchanges in rural areas, where dial up is still prominent. Around 10 years ago, BT put forward a proposal to install fibre cabling to replace the ageing copper lines. Unfortunately, this was turned down; if this were implemented back then we would not be in this position. Now the cost has risen exponentially and with cut backs across all sectors, I am less than optimistic about this deadline.
In stark contrast, Korea is looking likely to have 1Gbps broadband by 2012. Right now, I would love to get 10 meg let alone 1 gig. Research and development in our country is almost grinding to a standstill, and even if the implementation was successful at what cost to us? And what happened to SDSL in the UK? Yes, I would like to have the same upload speed as my download, and it was marketed as the next big thing at the time. Now it seems to have faded into the unknown for residential customers, of course it is an option for businesses but why not more widely available for everyone. Fibre internet is available in certain areas, but I can’t get anything higher than 2mbps unless I move more centrally in town.
I had a brief look at the report issued by the government (any longer than brief would probably bore me to an early grave), and one of the things they want to address is internet piracy, with the consultation of a digital rights agency. Please, are they going to DRM the internet? I can just see it now, I have to pay £1 for a website I want to view to be unlocked. Will all our activities be monitored online, whether innocent or otherwise? This amongst other things in our world, just means we are taking one-step closer to a totalitarian nanny state. It may not be as dramatic as 1984, but the signs are there.
Recent Comments