The Future of Broadband
Contributors to a report commissioned by BT have revealed wide and varied opinions of what a broadband world will look like in five years time. They say that broadband has the potential to continue to revolutionise industries, to change organisations, to enhance our society and to deliver environmental benefits.
The opinions are from many of the key players from across BT, from industry, from Government and from community groups. Some of the views readers of the report ‘Broadband – the next five years’ may agree with, others they may not.
The report sets out the vision of where broadband will be used – in the home, at work and on the move – and where all our devices will talk to each other and share information.
Dominated by benchmarks
In recent years, says the report, the debate about broadband has been dominated by a fixation with benchmarks – for availability, for reach, for a competitive market, for price. Those targets have been reached – more than seven million homes in the UK have DSL broadband, more than 99.6 per cent of homes have access to it, and the UK has the most thriving competitive broadband market in Europe, including more than two million cable broadband connections.
But the technology behind broadband is fast moving on. BT hopes the report will stimulate industry-wide debate into the future of broadband as it aims to identify the obstacles to achieving the vision and to start a discussion about how they can be addressed.
By looking at how business, education, health, entertainment, retail and society and environment could be transformed by broadband by 2010 it says that this is leading to a transformation in productivity as significant as the advent of electricity.
When electricity was first harnessed its applications were basic. It took many years and people with vision to see that electricity could power an endless variety of appliances and change people’s lives.
While for many in today’s society broadband is simply the power behind the internet, those with vision believe that broadband will become increasingly integrated into the fabric of life, in a similar way to many of the utilities we rely on every day.
Moving on to next stage
In the report’s introduction, BT Chief Executive Ben Verwaayen says the contribution by key industry players results in a vibrant discussion on how to use this country’s technology assets to bring on positive change to give people more flexible and fulfilling lives and to make businesses more efficient.
“So where do we go from here?” he asks. “What does having broadband actually mean to people, to business, to our society and our economy? We’ve worked hard to bring this technology to people, but why should they want it and what will they do with it – both now and in the future?
“This report is about the opportunities that broadband brings. It’s not a corporate vision, but an attempt to spark off the next stage of an important debate.”
The report debates three basic questions: what are the opportunities broadband creates? What is getting in the way of these opportunities becoming reality? And what do we – collectively – have to do to shift those obstacles?
To read the report and then take your part in the debate by voicing your views in the feedback section go to www.bt.com/broadbandthefuture