08 Dec 2008

Demand will be there for next-gen broadband

A Parliamentary Information Technology Committee (Pitcom) member has suggested the roll-out of next generation broadband in the UK would be supported by a sufficient level of demand.

Pitcom's Nick Palmer said that it can be easy to overestimate the national angle of consumer demand because broadband is "very much an international market".

However, he added: "There is a whole range of issues on how and when, but I think the demand is going to be there."

There is an ongoing debate over how the super-fast broadband would be funded and how it would be installed across the UK.

Hosted IT customers would benefit from the roll-out because, according to an Office of Communications (Ofcoms) report on the subject, next generation broadband would enable consumers to enjoy higher bandwidths and more reliable and higher-quality services.

According to the executive summary of Ofcom's delivering super-fast broadband in the UK consultation on September 23rd 2008, next generation networks will eventually replace standard broadband networks.

However, the transition poses some "difficult challenges to existing competitors, regulation and the consumer", the body noted.