Fibre optic broadband 'to have a dramatic effect on our lives'Tuesday, December 1st 2009 Will the widespread introduction of fibre optic broadband services across the UK really have a massive impact on our lives? While fibre optic broadband remains a service open almost exclusively to Virgin Media customers at present, it is undeniable that its presence in the world of broadband is set to grow.
Broadband providers such as BT are already trialling new services based on the technology, while the government's Digital Britain report has also highlighted plans for major investment in it over the coming years.
However, what will the service offer us? According to Stuart McIntosh, competition partner at Ofcom, it could potentially be "a world changing issue".
Speaking at the Westminster eForum keynote seminar the Future of Broadband in the UK, he explained: "[It is] possibly something which is going to have a dramatic effect on both our personal lives and our economic lives.
"There is the prospect of a much richer array of services doing things in very different ways than the way we do them today."
However, it might take some time for us all to benefit, as research by Point Topic recently suggested that current plans will only see about 35 per cent of the population receiving such services by 2012.
So are you willing to be patient to get hold of the technology or do you think efforts to introduce it should be improved if it really is going to be "world changing"? |
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Will Virgin Media's trial to provide fibre optic broadband services via telegraph poles lead to high demand? Will the addition of new channels to BT and Virgin Media's digital TV services boost their subscriber numbers? New figures from Cable.co.uk have highlighted that Virgin Media is the fastest broadband provider in the UK. | Will Sky's 3D TV demonstrations in shopping centres have the pulling power to up the firm's subscriber numbers? Broadband provider TalkTalk has revealed the upgrades it is making to its network services. A new range of children's entertainment has been added to Virgin Media's digital TV platform. |
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