We don’t deserve high-speed fibre broadband apparently!

BT don’t think we deserve the speediest broadband possible – BT chief Ian Livingstone has claimed that there isn’t enough demand for fibre optics to justify the massive costs and time it would take to kit out every home in Britain with super-fast broadband – thanks!� Whatever happened to the customer always being right?

Speaking on a panel at the Digital Britain Summit, along with ‘pals’ from the likes of Virgin Media and O2, Livingstone defended BT’s actions claiming that most people are happy chugging along at a steady pace and aren’t fussed about super-fast broadband that can be achieved from fibre optic cabling such as what is being advertised from Virgin.

“Of course a Ferrari is faster than a Ford.� But most people are happy with a Ford,” claimed Livingstone.� That’s very nice of him to speak on behalf of the people but I can imagine that everyone was happy trundling on with standard definition televisions until high definition was released and everyone went mental because of the jump in performance and quality.

Why can’t we have the right to choose?

So why can’t we get the same right to a choice with broadband?� Don’t we have some kind of global technological image that we need to massage so that the rest of the world can see how great we are or something?� Doesn’t that allow me to have access to fibre optic broadband in my home somehow?

It’s not like BT are against fibre as they have already put aside £1.5 billion specifically for connecting around 40 per cent of Britain’s households by 2012.� However the services that they will be providing will pale in significance against the reality of what could be provided:� BT will be supplying 40 MBPS when they could actually be bringing 100 MBPS if they put a little heart and sole into the operation.

So we are being deprived of 60 per cent of a possible 100 MBPS and all we are given is a strained automobile metaphor – it’s not as if no one has ever bought a Ferrari…people who can afford them buy them whenever they get the chance.� They probably said the same thing about DSL and look what we have now.

Should the Government step in?

The topic of high speed broadband came up when the panel was asked to debate whether the Government should step in and either regulate or subsidise a move towards a Digital Britain.

Virgin, of course, took a different direction to BT, underlining the importance of bringing high speed broadband to the whole of Britain and not just its cities.

Neil Berkett, the Virgin Media chief executive, said, “Digital Britain is about Digital Britain, not digital cities,” underlining the importance of bringing the services to the rural areas of the country as well as to the cities.

Are you a Ford or a Ferrari?

Are you like me and a little put off by being referenced as a Ford?� Do you think that you should have the right to access high-speed fibre broadband?� Leave us a comment and let us know…