subject: Just what is super fast broadband? [print this page] Just what is super fast broadband? Just what is super fast broadband?
Like most questions asked in the House of Commons this went largely unnoticed.
However, unlike most questions in the Commons Chamber when Labour MP Ben Watson asked what is defined as superfast broadband he hit upon an important issue that could affect a large proportion of the population.
Namely just what is this super fast broadband that everyone's been talking about and - for that matter - do the UK's fastest broadband deals match up.
Unfortunately the answer the labour MP got back from the MP for Culture Communication and Creative Industries Ed Vaizey was awfully vague and didn't give a possible download speed which leaves many still asking the question what are super fast broadband deals.
He said something along the line of super fast broadband being broadband of a minimum of speed and quality that could deliver the best services in Europe.
Likewise, he was vague about the technology used to deliver this connection: it could be fixed or wireless as long as it's a significant upgrade on today's fixed and wireless networks he said.
This could be described as a text book political answer from Vaizey not really answering the original question giving just enough as to not be accused of avoiding the issue.
Yet when the first reports on high speed broadband for all surfaced all the political parties had their own definitive answer to Ben Watson's question.
Before the general election the three main political parties all had a figure in megabytes in mind with the conservatives suggesting a slightly optimistic 100mb download speed whilst labour and the Lib Dems all suggested a more realistic 40mb download speed.
Up to 20 or 40Mb is what is current offered by providers such as Sky or Virgin.
This has left some scratching their heads but to add more confusion to the issue some experts have been suggesting that the term super fast has become outdated as it was a few years ago that new superfast broadband packages where boasting download speeds of 2mbs, positively snail like by today's standards.
Furthermore with 100mb downloads speeds being spoken about in terms outside science fiction some have suggested that download speeds have outgrown the original meaning of broadband, let's not forget that broadband was originally billed as twice the speed of old dial up connections.
With politicians and experts mulling over the highly philosophical question, what is super fast broadband? Unfortunately it could be the consumers that are left in the dark.
