The obstacles to next-gen networks

Broadband has been a huge success in the UK with more than half of all UK homes with a connection, at an average speed of four megabits a second (Mbps). But there are fears that the country is being left behind in the push towards next-generation networks.
The UK's current broadband network is predominantly based on copper wires designed for telephone calls, and in the coming years the hardware will reach its technological limits, putting a cap of 24Mbps download speeds on connections.
The technology, called ADSL, also suffers from issues such as falling speeds with greater distance from the exchange, noise on the line, limited upload speeds and slowdown when more people are on the network.
A future download speed of 24Mbps might sound fast, but other countries around the world are offering 40Mbps and even 100Mbps connections right now.
An extensive network of fibre optic cables has been touted as one solution but a UK-wide fibre to the home plan would cost £15bn to roll-out and some in the industry question the financial wisdom of such a network and whether it is needed at all.
Commercial incentives
BT, which operates the ADSL network in the UK, has said it would need government assistance or commercial incentives before it could commit to building a next-generation network.
The UK's sole cable provider, Virgin Media, is in the process of boosting its network in order to offer speeds of up to 50Mbps to 52% of the UK by the end of 2008.
Without proper investment in next-generation broadband, users in the UK could miss out on the internet's next major innovation, said Ian Fogg, an analyst at Jupiter Research.
"The next big thing on the internet - 2010's YouTube - may not work in the UK," he warned.
One of the biggest issues is that no-one is really sure what "the next big thing" will be. Even if the UK did have a next-generation network ready to be switched on, how would it be used?
In the US, fibre to the home networks are being used to deliver High Definition TV services but in the UK Sky and cable firms already offer HD programming, with Freeview earmarked for hi-def content in the next five years.
Others think that even if people did want high definition content delivered via broadband, they would not want to pay for it.
"The question is how to make money and I'm not sure the answer is good. Take HD, people have already paid out £2,000 for a plasma TV and they see that as paying for HD. They are not going to want to pay for the service as well," said Justin Paul, a development manager at telecoms equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent.
Faster upload
The faster upload speeds offered by fibre could spur community networks that create and share video content and more bandwidth is always appreciated by online gamers.
But gaming is not going to be enough in itself to recoup the costs of either upgrading cable or investing the estimated £15bn needed.
...
Source: bbc.co.uk