Fibre to the Cabinet. About Time!

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Posted by James Kilgour | Posted in News, Technology | Posted on 14-10-2008

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Fibre

Today, BT has announced a ‘trial’ of fibre to the cabinets technology. In Muswell Hill, London, and Whitchurch, South Wales. Homes and businesses in the area will be able to enjoy broadband speeds of up to 40mb! The trial is due to start next year, and it’s definitely a step in the right way.

But why couldn’t they have done this earlier? What about the rest of us? In Japan and South Korea, users already enjoy 100mb broadband; costing the same as my 4mb! (Sky Unlimited, £10 per month).

The Internet is apparently on the brink of collapse, with the popularity of Youtube, BBC iPlayer and others. This would solve the issue, and make surfing the web amazingly fast. It would also lead to ‘Cloud Computing’, (the use of processing power of high performance computers elsewhere), which demands high speed Internet.

This is something I blogged about a few months ago. Hopefully BT’s trial will be proved successful!

JK

Broadband: The Great Slow Down

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Posted by James Kilgour | Posted in Technology | Posted on 12-07-2008

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Broadband has never been so popular, with over 50% of adults having it in the UK. But as the technology becomes more widespread, and the choice on the Internet wider, is the technology and the experience getting better?

The telecom infrastructure of the UK was designed 50 years ago, when the concept of a network or Internet was a thing never dreamt of. As such, the copper wire network was built to carry telephone voice calls; something pretty simple to do. The problem is now, in the 21st century, we are still reliant on that old system; to carry videos from youtube, TV from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. We now IM each other, and say goodnight face to face using webcams. With unlimited usage packages starting at only £10 a month, our need for speed and data can be met without hurting our pockets.
The toll of this bandwidth consumption will be profound; either a complete slow down of the net, or the entire system breaking completely, and grinding to a halt. I must admit I am guilty of bandwidth hogging, and I’m not alone. The days of cheap, fast and unmetered broadband could soon be gone forever, if we do not invest in upgrading the system, or curving our ways.
One such example is Virgin Media. They use fibre optic cables, which use light beams to transfer data. Unlike copper, they do not slow down with length, and are built to support the modern Internet.
However, this is still not choice. The UK desperately needs more fibre optic broadband providers, in order to give the people the best prices and services. Competition isn’t a bad thing.
The problem is that providers have become complacent in the market. Upgrading their networks isn’t a priority, and none of them want to spend money on something that no one else is doing. BT, the national provider of telecom infrastructure is unwilling to upgrade to fibre because of the expense, which they may not recoup. Perhaps business should do what is best for the market and the consumer, instead of focusing on profit.
JK