Broadband Britain: Where are we now?

Webactive staff — 2004-02-11T11:17:43.000Z

Webactive staff, Webactive, Wednesday 11 February 2004 at 11:17:43

If you can't yet switch to a faster internet service what are your chances of being able to in the not-too-distant future?

More and more households up and down the country are logging on to the web at higher speeds than ever before, either via ADSL or cable broadband connections.

But despite many users now enjoying faster download speeds thanks to broadband, Webactive has received a worryingly large amount of mail from disgruntled readers to whom broadband access is denied simply because of where they live.

Broadband also presents us with a bit of a chicken and egg situation: content providers need mass broadband take-up to deliver rich media over the internet and mass broadband take-up will only happen when there's enough services to access.

You see, without the services behind it, broadband is little more than a slightly faster way of accessing the internet, which isn't always enough to tempt occasional users to make the switch from dial-up.

ADSL and cable broadband have been with us now for a couple of years now, so Webactive thinks its about time we took another look at the situation to find out precisely where Britain stands on the broadband issue today.

What's out there?

Broadband has an enormous potential to revolutionise the way that we live, work and relax, but it is still very early days yet.

The first thing to realise is that it's a global technology, and only now are we beginning to see just enough broadband adopters around the world to start pushing the need for new kinds of services and content over the internet.

Music is one of the biggest (and most visible) growth areas for the consumer market, with the record industry keen to claw back some of the profits its been losing on falling CD sales.

With a broadband connection, downloading a high-quality digital audio track is a quick and painless process, as those mischievous file-sharing sites have already proved. So, if record companies could charge a nominal amount for each track and make back catalogues available online, broadband users have quick and convenient access to new music.

Although services like iTunes are beginning to crop up in the US, developing a framework for legal music downloading seems to be a slow and painful process, since such a system has to be put in place on a country-to-country basis.

A similar idea is starting to be explored by the film industry. Experiments are already underway to see how broadband can be used to deliver movies directly to a consumer's home. This could mean broadband moving from your PC to your TV.

Broadband has also started to make sense of some things that have been available online for some time. Services such as Xdrive for example, have existed since long before broadband but are now just coming into their own.

Xdrive offers online storage that acts just like a hard disk, where users can upload and access files from any PC with an internet connection. It is possible to use services like Xdrive with a dial-up connection but broadband means that files can be posted and retrieved quicker and much more efficiently.

Away from the desktop

But it's wrong to think of broadband as a technology that's just improving life for computer users. Instead, we would be better to consider the technology an integral part of home life just like a telephone line or television.

It's commonly accepted that more and more of our household machines will eventually become networked - that is to say that they will develop the power to communicate, which will likely mean a connection to your broadband service.

Many such products are already beginning to appear in manufacturers' release schedules. The infamous internet fridge has been on the cards for a good few years now but Philips' range of Streamium products look a lot more enticing for music and movie fans.

This home entertainment system uses a broadband connection to access internet radio stations and music across the internet. Soon, the system will also be used to access film trailers and short films through content partnership deals.

Internet gaming is another reason to invest in broadband, as you can play against thousands of online gamers at fast speeds. In fact, now that consoles like Sony's PlayStation2 and Microsoft's Xbox have network capability, gaming is currently instrumental in helping to shift broadband away from the desktop and into the living room.

Even the standard telephone is also evolving. A company called Inclarity is starting to push broadband telephony, which will use your fast internet connection instead of a telephone line to provide cheap voice calls. This may seem a little backwards but any call made over the internet is completely free.

Once this system rolls out and people all over the world have access to similar services there could be no reason to pay for another voice call again.

Slow spread

So, broadband is steadily making good on its promise to deliver rich content and services and the situation is getting better every day. But will everybody be able to make use of all this new bandwidth and the goodies that it could provide?

This leads us to the current problem facing many UK surfers - getting access to broadband in the first place. Recent surveys haven't even put the UK in the worldwide top twenty for broadband take-up.

Even worse, a worrying trend is developing in Britain, with a big gap opening up between largely urban areas that are well served for broadband and rural parts of the country that hold little hope of being connected to the fast track anytime soon.

Countries such as South Korea are way ahead of the game, mostly thanks to strong subsidies from the government that we just haven't had in this country. But there are various other reasons why the UK is trailing its heels.

Unlike the US, for example, Britain doesn't have much in the way of an existing cable TV infrastructure down which broadband can be piped. It also hasn't helped that BT is the sole owner of much of the network needed for ADSL. While other ISPs are offering broadband services, part of your monthly subscription fee will still go to BT for the cost of the ADSL line.

Telecoms regulators have worked hard to make sure that wholesale broadband is handled fairly and responsibly, but it's reasonable to suggest that, without competition at this base level, broadband rollout has so far been slow.

The UK also suffers from Radio Authority restrictions on wireless alternatives. Take the radio frequency used by 802.11b, for example. The most common Wi-Fi network standard was originally barred from being used commercially.

With licences for other frequencies prohibitively expensive it is no wonder that the UK has fallen behind other countries. Fortunately, the frequency issue has now been opened up, and an increasing number of Wi-Fi hotspots are beginning to appear around the country.

Broadening the picture

But rather than focus on how far the UK is behind other countries, let's take a look at what's being done to increase broadband penetration. We've looked at the current situation to find out exactly where the major broadband companies (Telewest and NTL for cable, BT for ADSL) currently stand on the situation.

"Our position is that we have invested an enormous amount into our network. Our job and duty to investors is to sell those services to the seven million homes we reach," explains Bill Goodland, NTL's Director of Internet Product Management and Strategy.

Telewest and BT have both taken a similar position. Economically it's just not viable to extend current technologies to many rural areas to increase their sales base by a small percentage.

But, as we know, it's not just rural communities that suffer from lack of broadband and some customers in urban areas have also been unable to upgrade. The good news is that there are steps in place to increase availability.

"We have just launched extended reach ADSL, which will make the technology available to another 600,000 households," says Philippa Winterburn, head of broadband marketing for BT Wholesale.

The new technology extends the reach of ADSL so that people living up to 6Km from the local exchange should pass the line test for broadband installation.

"Service providers have been given a list of people who originally failed a line test so that they can be contacted and retested," says Winterburn. Webactive suggests that readers who originally failed the ADSL line test phone up and book another line test, so as not to be disappointed.

BT has also upped the download speed of ADSL to 2Mbps per second, which puts it on par with the speeds offered by competing cable companies.

Fair exchange?

Even with extended reach available there will still be a significant proportion of readers that live near an exchange that hasn't been upgraded to support broadband. In some ways BT is between a rock and a hard place, as it is not allowed to upgrade an exchange if it would make a loss, as this is seen as unfair competition.

Instead the system works on a trigger-level scheme. Once enough people in an area have registered - usually around 250 - BT reviews the situation and makes the upgrade. So, to help your area you need to visit the BT website and register an interest.

BT is also looking at cheaper ways to enable exchanges, which will be ideal for smaller communities that don't have the same interest levels as large urban areas.

For NTL and Telewest the story is slightly different. The reason that some people can't get broadband in NTL or Telewest areas is down to the quality of the local infrastructure. If your area hasn't had cable TV laid, then you can't use either service - it's as simple as that. And even some cable-ready areas are having problems.

For example, when NTL acquired the cable operator running Milton Keynes it found out that the local network wasn't good enough to support broadband communications. Ripping out all of the cabling to replace it is an expensive task and unlikely to happen in the short term.

Looking ahead

Broadband companies have come to realise that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' solution to making fast internet available to 100 per cent of the population, which is where newer experimental technologies have started to come in.

Of these, wireless networks appears to be the best technology as it doesn't need any complex, not to mention expensive, cable or satellite installations.

"We're performing fixed wireless trials in Milton Keynes at the moment, although we don't have a confirmed plan for launch at the moment," explains NTL's Goodland. BT is also looking into providing services over wireless connections. And the company is looking at "months not years to launch other technologies".

Some rural households that urgently need broadband have looked to the stars for help - well, satellites, at least. Satellite broadband solutions tend to be expensive to install and rely on slow upload speeds, although download speeds can be much higher than cable or ADSL. Have a look at Satdrive and Swiftsat for an idea of the range of services and prices.

We shouldn't just be looking towards the traditional broadband suppliers for help, though, as other companies are getting in on the act. The most interesting idea we have seen comes from Scottish Southern Energy, which is currently looking at delivering data over power lines. Successful technical trials have already taken place but as of yet there's no sign of a release date.

Government intervention

Broadband is rapidly developing from a fast internet connection to an essential part of the home. With more and more services being delivered over the medium and more products able to take advantage over it, there will be a point where broadband is a necessity rather than a luxury.

It seems clear at this point, and from looking at other countries' success stories, that government subsidies and incentives need to be put in place to encourage broadband take up. Without this, many rural communities are likely to remain without broadband for the foreseeable future. But any government led initiative needs to keep the same competitive ground that has emerged between cable and ADSL.

If you want to your voice to be hear in this matter, the best thing that you can do is join the campaign to bring broadband and issues to the forefront of the government's thinking. This can be done by signing existing petitions or writing directly to your MP.

Over the next few months it's worth checking the broadband companies to see if any advancements have been made in your area. Don't forget to register an interest anyway, as this helps bring attention to an area and trigger any necessary upgrades. Also look at the local campaign environment and see if there are any groups you can join.

Campaigning for broadband

If you're tired of not being able to get broadband in your area then it's worth campaigning for it. There's a good chance that there's already a campaign group acting for your area.

Try going to the BT broadband website and clicking on the Campaign Group list. By searching it you can find out if anyone is currently trying to get your area ready.

Each group is responsible for promoting the benefits of broadband to the community and raising interest and get the broadband companies to enable the area. If there isn't a local campaign group then you could always try setting up one yourself.

It's also worth trying the Broadband4Britain website, as this tells you how to get in touch with your local MP to promote the need for government intervention.

DIY

When faced with no cable or ADSL access to broadband, most people would resign themselves to the slow speeds of their old dial-up connection. But not the residents of West Haddon and Winwick villages, who decided to go it alone and form their own internet company.

With a standard wireless card any resident of the village can get fast broadband accesses for £27 a month. And, as the new company is a non-profit organisation, there's no VAT to pay. Now that's community spirit!

CONTACTS

The big three:

www.bt.com/broadband

www.blueyonder.co.uk www.ntl.co.uk

Broadband alternatives:

www.scottish-southern.co.uk

(Broadband over powercables)

www.ispreview.co.uk/broadband/wire.shtml

(Wireless broadband providers)

Campaigning:

www.broadband4britain.co.uk

www.bt.com/broadband

Broadband Services:

www.digitaldownloadday.com

www.xdrive.com

General:

www.adslguide.org

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Broadband Britain: Where are we now?