Ofcom Pushes For Fibre Optic Broadband
| Author | Gordon Kelly |
| Published | 8th Jul 2008 |
7 comments
Email this to a friend
TrustedReviews NewslettersWhile Ofcom can be accused of being somewhat snail-like in its movements, those movements do tend to have the customer at heart and following its assault on roaming charges, promotion of High Definition terrestrial TV and crackdown on dodgy ISP speed claims it is now pushing for faster broadband for all.
Key most in this is the investment and eventual proliferation of 'Fibre Optic broadband' - a technology no doubt known to many, but for the uninitiated it could means speeds of up to 100Mbit in our homes and offices. Naturally this all comes at immense cost however since our existing networks would need to be significantly upgraded and it is expected to require between £10-15 billion to switch over 80 per cent of the existing infrastructure.
"Here as much as anywhere we need to ensure that there is a healthy environment for investment - which can support, in turn, competition and innovation," said Ed Richards, Ofcom CEO. "We want investment in a competitive environment. Our position is clear. Ofcom favours a regulatory environment for the next generation of networks and access that both allows and encourages operators to make risky investments, to innovate for the benefit of consumers and, if the risks pay off, for the benefit of their shareholders too. Superfast broadband will be central to the way we live in the future. Alongside mobile broadband, it will, in time, have a similar impact on our society and economy as the first generation of broadband."
Minions: we have a new industry darling.
So what of the time schedules in all this? Well, Sky is rumoured to be starting preliminary fibre based trials as we speak while Virgin aims to challenge this with its long-awaited 50Mbps cable service before the end of the year.
Still while 100Mbps-capable packages aren't likely to appear for some time, the current crackdown on P2P file sharing may curb the enthusiasm of its most eager proponents anyway. Though that's an argument for another day...
Link:
via Broadband Choices
Related Articles
Newsletters
Register to receive the latest Reviews and News Headlines directly to your Inbox every day, and enter our regular competitions. More Info.
Latest 4 of 7 Comments
Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.
Janus said on 8th July 2008
Xiphias said on 8th July 2008
£10 billion? Hmm, that's what the London Olympics is going to cost...
Azro said on 9th July 2008
"£10 billion? Hmm, that's what the London Olympics is going to cost..." or was supposed to cost (give or take a couple of billion)?
The transition to ... more
GoldenGuy said on 9th July 2008
Ooh, it's got political. Personally I'd just give all the money to the guys at The Pirate Bay, so they can afford a Johnnie Cochran of intellectual property law.
See all 7 comments on this article.
Add your comment
You must be logged in to comment. Login or register here.
I wish Ireland's regulators were like Ofcom. Currently Eircom's plans for the future are 8MB broadband. I wouldn't mind but it will cost the same as 50MB in Paris...