High speed broadband: Believe the hype?05 December 2005
Internet service providers (ISPs) seem to be engaged in a race to promote broadband connections capable of ever-increasing speeds. For most consumers, it seems logical to assume that the faster the download speed, the better your internet service will be as a result.
A handful of UK operators are preparing to roll out, if they haven't already, high-speed services, typically offering connection speeds of up to 8 megabits per second (Mbps). These include Bulldog and BT. The IT world is also already buzzing about the next development, ADSL2+, which would afford users speeds of up to 24Mbps.
However, some critics have suggested that newly available super fast broadband connections have been over-hyped and aren't all their cracked up to be. All of which leaves small businesses none the wiser about which kind of connection and speed is the best value for their needs.
Criticisms
With different ISPs continually announcing they have broken the broadband speed limit, consumers and IT professionals alike have questioned the difference it is likely to make to their own web use. A recent study from Point Topic claimed that consumers who choose to upgrade to a 24Mbps connection when it becomes available may not be able to achieve the speeds advertised. The report suggests that just five per cent of the population will receive speeds of only 18 Mbps. Marketing director at Point Topic, Oliver Johnson, said: "24Mbps is achievable within 300 metres of the exchange so basically you can get those speeds if you happen to live next door to a telephone exchange." Therefore for most internet users, the promise of such a rate in marketing and advertising material is unlikely to be reality.
The future
It does seem likely, however, that in the not too distant future everyone will require ISPs to be able to support significantly more traffic through household and business internet connections. The merger of NTL and Telewest and Sky's acquisition of Easynet is indicative of the future of home communications and entertainment. BT is in the process of producing an "on-demand" television service available through a broadband connection, having already launched an innovative converged fixed to mobile broadband phone service, BT Fusion. See our previous feature for more about this telephony solution. It is also predicted that each single connection will have to support multiple users simultaneously using different applications.
What about for small business?
Next generation services are on their way, and there's no denying that a higher speed connections will be required to fully support them. But what about now? For a small businesses considering upgrading to a greater speed service it is worth considering which business functions would benefit.
- How much downloading and uploading will be carried out. If a business handles a lot of online orders or sales, for example, then increasing the connection speed would certainly be of use.
- How many users will be working through the connection? If it is only one or two then upgrading may not be necessary but multiple users would benefit.
In addition, small businesses can work to free up "wasted" bandwidth. Ensuring that security against spywares and viruses is up to date will help to reduce wasted bandwidth, as will discouraging staff from using the net for non-business purposes.
Next generation services will soon be available, and as a result organising a higher speed broadband connection will be a good investment in the end. Currently, small businesses sharing their broadband connection between a number of computers and requiring the frequent transfer of information using it would benefit from an 8Mbps connection. BT offers a package called BT Business Broadband Advanced which is a good compromise, offering both download and upload speeds of 2Mbps (as opposed to a lower upload speed typical of ADSL broadband).
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