If our news is anything to go by, we are increasingly becoming a nation obsessed by broadband – which makes it all the more bewildering that, rather than making ourselves one of the cutting edge technological nations, we are languishing well below mid-table in the latest broadband speed figures.
Without getting caught up in Britain’s glorious technological past, it’s plain to see that this is something of a come-down for a nation that sparked the industrial revolution; from the forefront to behind the chasing pack in a few generations.
But does a failure to keep up with broadband speeds really impact on the nation’s ability to innovate and excel? In a word yes. In the past fast running water and then coal were the fuel that powered progress, but now it is information; specifically information technology.
In Japan internet connections are hovering around the 100 mega bit per second (Mbps) mark, yet despite the growing number of people with access to broadband connections in this country, and the growing desire for things like high definition movie downloads that require these kind of speeds, we are still largely stuck in the dark ages in broadband terms.
Why? Largely because British Telecom cannot see the financial benefits of spending £15 billion to upgrade our telecoms system to the fibre optics that would facilitate faster speeds. Of course, faster lines are available on a much smaller scale – Virgin has announced a trial of a 50Mbps service and the arrival of ADSL2+ will help many, although it will still depend on where you are in relation to the telephone exchange.
Many people are not even aware that they are not getting the broadband speeds they assume they receive. Most packages are sold under terms like ‘Speed up to 8mbps’ which of course mean that if your speed is one kilobyte a second it is still within this explanation.
The fact is that the likes of France - already significantly ahead of us on average speeds – Sweden and Germany are all already utilising fibre technology and plan to roll it out even further in the coming years.
Meanwhile, Britain is slipping quickly down the ladder, and unless something is done quickly this shows no sign of changing.
It’s not all doom and gloom, perhaps the biggest factor in instigating the necessary changes comes from demand, and with increasing awareness of the internet and what it brings the British populace are beginning to pose questions that telecoms companies are struggling to answer.
Let’s not be entirely unfair to BT, this is a major job and in financial terms there are still fears that the internet’s growth could bring major problems in terms of volume of traffic at a later date. Indeed, when many people were asked in a survey by broadbandchoices.co.uk if they were willing to pay extra for an enhanced service, 60% said no or that they didn’t know.
There have been suggestions that, in order to encourage uptake of faster speeds, the public must first have access to them to see what the benefits are, but I actually believe that a younger more eager audience – perhaps the kind of person less likely to complete a survey – is already pushing for change.
Does anyone doubt for a second that a high speed network won’t become central to the public and daily computer use? No. Does anyone doubt that this would have a positive impact on British industry? No.
Yes it’s a major cost, but it’s a vital step – one that we must be willing both our government and our peers to get behind. Looking coyly at the problem and mumbling about costs is a recipe for stagnation and, now more than ever, Britain needs to get back to the cutting edge.
With information becoming the new global currency, ask yourself: what price would you put on the nation’s future?
We'd love to know what you think about UK broadband. Should we pay more to play catch-up or is this a fool's folly?
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UK Broadband Speeds are a Disgrace... 
