Challenge News

Why would you need 50Mbps broadband?

You might want 50Mbps - especially if you're getting something more like the 3.2Mbps that thinkbroadband.com says is the average in the UK - but need and want are two different things. Virgin Media said on Monday that it is to start rolling out that next-gen speed to cable (not copper-wire ADSL) customers next year, meaning that they'll be able to download TV shows, films and music at blistering speeds: a 1.1GB film should download in around 15 minutes.

Broadband: Gap between best and worst performing countries in Europe narrowing

Broadband penetration in Europe continues to grow, from 18.2% in July 2007 to up to 21.7% in July 2008, according to a report published today by the European Commission. The report also shows the gap between EU countries narrowing, from 28.4 percentage points in July 2007 to 27.7 this July. With 17 million fixed broadband lines laid in a year, today's figures show high-speed internet in the EU is more widespread and faster, while mobile broadband is starting to take off, with 6.9% penetration. Three quarters of broadband lines in the EU have download speeds of 2 millions of bits per second (Mbps) and above, a speed that supports TV over the Internet, for example.

The numbers on fibre to the home just don't add up

In 1990 I went to the headquarters of a cable company in London. You might imagine that it was a gleaming temple to the new age of superfast broadband (a word that in those days was barely used outside laboratories). Instead it was a poky set of rented rooms up the top of some crumbling stairs in a Soho building. Being a cable company in the 1990s was a shortcut to bankruptcy: it cost so much to dig up the roads to install the fibre-optic cable, and then to hire staff to persuade customers to sign up to the services (in those days, just TV and phone; there was no internet), that most companies simply keeled over from debt. Thus the cable business contracted from dozens of operators to a handful, and then to one - NTL - which still struggled with its debts, and was reversed into by Virgin Media.

Closing the UK's digital divisions

With broadband available on a monthly basis for less than £10 and laptops being given away free with some packages, there seems little reason for people not to be online.

So we're internet freaks in the UK. But for how long?

To stay ahead in our adoption of mobiles, games and the internet we need to find a way to leapfrog our own telephone network

Super-fast broadband, bit by bit

The network that powers the next generation of broadband is going to be radically different from the one we currently have.

Silver Surfers Stole the Show at Westminster on October 23rd

Anyone tempted to label the over-50s as Luddites should have been at Portcullis House on October 23rd, 2008, when Bernard Featherstone of Eccles was awarded 2008 UK Silver Surfer of the Year Award. Runners-up: Judith Taylor, 80 of St Albans; Les Nicholls, 88 of Liverpool; Simbo Ogunyemi, 66, from SE London and Stuart Hill, 59, from Middlesbrough, were applauded, too.

We own chunks of the banks, now what about broadband?

For those of us passionate about reducing Britain's digital divide, these are the best and worst of times. The worst of times, we all know about: a gaping hole in the public accounts means little money available for good works that don't have immediate electoral appeal.

Government to undertake Digital Britain Report

On Friday last week the government announced it would be undertaking a Digital Britain Report, led by the new minister for technology, communications and broadcasting Stephen Carter. This represents an opportunity for Government to tackle a range of issues in a coordinated, strategic way. Hopwever, doing so requires that the report is not a stock-taking exercise of ongoing issues, but a proactive plan of action that provides strong government direction.

UK firm leads way on EU broadband

A UK organisation has been invited to take part in a major European project to bring broadband to rural areas.

BT to plug fibre in London and Wales

BT has picked Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, South Glamorgan for the next phase of its next-gen broadband strategy for superfast internet access.

BT to let broadband users boost their bandwidth

BT lifted the lid on a range of products on Thursday that will shape its consumer broadband strategy for the next few years.

Connecting older people to the world

An interesting development this year was the discovery by the IT industry of a whole new market for affordable computers of the kind that Asus makes and which has already spawned a host of imitators. But there is an even bigger market staring the industry in the face. There are now more pensioners than children under 16.

Birmgham Family Takes Year-long Digital Journey in Unique 3-way Collaboration

A Birmingham family of four have started a year-long voyage of digital discovery in a pioneering experiment organised by Digital Birmingham, BT and the Birmingham Mail.

Digital Infrastructure for the Community, by the Community

From Urban Habitat - By Eloise Lee

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