Faster Bradband Services

Super-fast broadband deals which can achieve speeds of up to 40Mb/s are likely to lead to increased competition and, thus, lower prices for consumers. The BT Infinity service which uses fibre-to-the-cabinet technology and is part of BT Openreach's £1.5 billion investment in its broadband infrastructure, for example, has lower prices than many of the UK's other so-called 'super-fast' broadband deals.By the end of the month 500,000 properties will be connected to Infinity in the UK with up to 4 million online by the end of the year.

A spokesman from rival super-fast broadband provider Virgin Media stated that "We're not sure why people in the UK would want...BT's 40Mb service... when they can already get Virgin Media's great value 50Mb service."BT has two new Infinity options both of which offer 'up to 40Mbps' connection.BT Infinity Option 1 costs £19.99 a month, a fairly reasonable price, but comes with a 20GB monthly download limit, which some say may hinder the full potential of 40Mbps broadband deals.

Option 2 in contrast comes with an unlimited monthly download limit, meaning users can surf and download to their hearts content for £24.99 a month, as long as you stay within the acceptable usage policy. That means you, p2p users! The 50Mb/s Virgin Media XXL Broadband service is currently available to 12.5 million homes across the UK but costs £38 per month if taken as a standalone product. The 50Mbps package is currently provided with a fully unlimited usage allowance. Virgin Media has sought to draw attention to the contrast between its approach to download limits on super-fast broadband services and BT's approach, singling out the 20GB limit on BT Infinity Option 1 for particular criticism by stating that customers will only be able to download around 4 HD movies a month before hitting the limit.

Hitting back at these suggestions a BT spokesman claimed that some customers would simply want to upgrade the speed of their broadband 'seamlessly' to quicken their current surfing habits. However it is hard to predict how access to faster broadband may affect browsing habits, potentially causing customers to consume much more bandwidth than before. One particular standout feature of the new BT Infinity products is the 10Mbps upload speed which will vastly improve the experience of sending large amount of data, changing the user experience on data-heavy sites like Flickr.

Despite all the fanfare many broadband users remain sceptical about the real-world performance of the super-fast broadband range of products. The main concerns are that the next-generation of broadband services will still be affected by the same old problems of traffic management and bad advertising.After one anonymous user in a trial for the new BT service reportedly only managed an 11Mbps connection, many have argued that the phrase 'up to' should be banished from broadband advertising.The new BT Infinity packages manage to increase speeds by utilising fibre optic cables as far as the green street cabinets and then running the final leg to the home on traditional copper wires. By 2012 BT also plans to have some properties connected via fibre to the home with 100Mbps potential.