With news that more and more of the U.K.’s broadband providers are working on speeds in excess of 50 Mb per second there is speculation as to how high UK broadband speeds can go. While broadband speeds in the hundreds of megabits per second have been realised over very short distances it is a little more difficult to replicate these speeds over longer distances although slowly we are seeing new technology emerge to rectify this issue. So how high can speeds go?
In many ways is not a case of how high speeds can go but more a case of what kind speeds are required by consumers and businesses alike. In many ways the 50 Mb service offered by Virgin Broadband is more than enough for the vast number of UK consumers and businesses but with IPTV and other media delivery systems waiting in the background there appears to be a serious push for higher speeds. At some point we may see a divergence between consumer broadband speeds and business broadband speeds due to the specific requirements of these two parties.
While speeds in excess of 20 Mb per second are considered commonplace in some areas of the country, if you take a look back over the last four, five, six years there have been significant improvements in technology and the UK broadband network as a whole. Quite what the next 10 years will hold remains to be seen.