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Getting wider: Why next-gen broadband will be a necessity

Jon Wilcox looks at some of the broadband packages on offer from BT and the company’s next-generation broadband rollout strategy.

Earlier in the summer Lord Stephen Carter presented his Digital Britain report, detailing a three year plan to deliver universal 2Mb broadband coverage across the UK. Further investment for the future also saw Carter propose a levy of £6 per year to finance the instalment of next-generation broadband infrastructure.

At the BT Business Experience, the company detailed its own £1.5bn investment in a next-generation network, which is currently undergoing trials in two UK locations (Muswell Hill, London and Whitchurch, Cardiff). Dozens of exchanges have since been identified for the upgrade, with a rollout scheduled to begin next spring.

BT’s strategy is to implement Fibre to the Cabinet (FttC), the installation of optical fibres to phone exchanges, leaving the so-called ‘last mile’ to end users up to existing copper lines. This combination of fibre and copper can be used to support super-fast broadband with download speeds of up to 40Mb initially and 2Mb upload.

Implementing the new network will give UK businesses access to greater levels of productivity; quicker access to cloud computing solutions, including BT business application partners like SalesForce.com and Xero.

The continued penetration of high-speed broadband access to the web is a vital cog to drive the economic growth of UK Ltd (and plc for that matter) as the recession comes to an end. The promise from government to implement universal broadband for the UK population will further drive the possibility for a robust web infrastructure in the future – with BT Business right at its heart.