72 per cent of Broadband community fears UK is reaching limit of its high-speed network

iBAHN, the worldwide leader in digital entertainment and Internet solutions for the hospitality and meeting industries, today announces the findings of its broadband community survey looking at the future of connectivity needs www.10yearsofbroadband.com

More Information

The findings show that the broadband community fears the UK is reaching the limit of its broadband network (72% of respondents were concerned or very concerned). The majority (59 per cent) also disagreed with a broadband tax to fund super-fast network development – a plan shelved at the last moment by the Government.

The UK’s digital infrastructure is high on the political agenda for the imminent General Election in the UK and opponents of the Digital Economy bill have succeeded in forcing through late changes before the bill is passed. This is in line with the cross-party Business Innovation and Skills Committee, which opposes the Government’s broadband tax proposals.

The 10yearsofBroadband survey, which ran from February to the end of March 2010, and targeted the broadband user community, aimed to identify future broadband challenges, gathering feedback on issues such as connection speeds, network limits, security, government intervention and devices and applications.

It also showed that the UK broadband community feels that the biggest challenge for broadband networks over the next 10 years will be increased data traffic (38%) followed by demand for higher speeds (19%) and security (16%).

However, when asked how important security is when connecting to a broadband network now, the vast majority (92%) said that it is important or essential, with only 7% willing to take a risk and just 1% feeling security is not important.

The feedback gained through the survey have been published on the 10 years of broadband site http://10yearsofbroadband.com/

Core Facts

The findings show that the broadband community fears the UK is reaching the limit of its broadband network (72% of respondents were concerned or very concerned). The majority (59 per cent) also disagreed with a broadband tax to fund super-fast network development – a plan shelved at the last moment by the Government.

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Quotes

“The findings of the 10yearsofbroadband survey show that the broadband community demands a strong, secure broadband network for the UK. It’s refreshing to see some political debate focused on the UK’s digital economy, but a lack of real consultation during the development of plans, such as the Digital Economy bill, has caused a negative reaction, and this survey underlines that it is an essential issue that needs to be addressed fully to answer the concerns of businesses and consumers in the UK.”

Graeme Powell, Managing Director EMEA, iBAHN