Industry group warns of future Broadband slump

The Broadband Stakeholders Group, an industry/government advisory group, has stated that Broadband services need to speed up in order to keep up with the growing consumer and business demand for faster online surfing. The economy may suffer if by 2012, UK businesses, especially UK-based online retailers such as Play.com, are unable to process and send information quickly.

“If steps are not taken [by 2009] to prepare for next-generation broadband, then we may well find ourselves in a position where it is too late to catch up,” said BSG chairman Kip Meek in the Financial Times.

Virgin Media has already announced its plan to upgrade its 10Mbps Size: XL Broadband service customers to 20Mbps, while BT have been quietly setting up their 21st Century Network, the digital network that will eventually replace the existing copperwire lines, which will allow for much faster connection speeds.

Last October, a post on Samknows.com – The Broadband Resource – stated that BT’s 21C Network will be up and running in Cardiff before it is rolled out over the rest of the country, with the rest of the UK to be fully connected by the end of 2011.

ISPs such as UK Online and Be have made use of ADSL 2+ technology, which allows them to sell Broadband services with faster than average connections speeds of 22Mbps and 24Mbps.

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