British Broadband (Finally) Jumps

seldo writes: "The BBC is reporting that BT's previously-announced cuts in broadband prices are having a rapid effect, and demand for broadband in the UK is suddenly taking off. Finally!"

Comments

Surprise, surprise.

[popoutman]

The pricing schemes were outrageous and just a bit silly. When BT got their heads screwed on right, and brought down the price, also releasing a DIY home kit, it was not going to be long before the service started taking off.
And BT is to release a 'no-frills' service as well: BT to release basic serices

Now all I have to worry about is DSL being rolled out in Ireland - I live 300m from an exchange on a fiber backbone, but the telco will not be rolling dsl out for another 2 years :-/

few more points about UK BB takeup

[fiddlesticks]

This woefully-thin-on-facts puff piece misses some essential points (facts, any sense of editorial tone, etc) The 'demand' will be confined to the same 400,000 (at best) households that have been waiting for this, agitating for this, for >2 years. Here's my 2c worth on what's holding it up:

1. BT monopoly. There are tales of people 'phoning BT to get broadband and being signed up for unmetered dialup (56k) instead due to BT customer service idiocy. The BT/ BT OPenworld/ BT whatever split makes Railtrack's look sensible.
2. UK Cableco current funding. This does *not* indicate any future network upgrades will be forthcoming soon. I am with Telewest Blue Yonder - my service is excellent for what it is (>60 days same IP, between 100-250k down, 40-80k up) but does not come close to US definitions of broadband. I pay 25 UKP/ month for this. NTL are bringing in 1mps for 50 UKP/ month (!) in selected areas, but have many pockets of analogue only TV / dialup subs.
3. 3) The UK government's terrible record on encouraging broadband - hell, even dial up - access. Last year the Guardian reported reported that the UK has committed

   £30m to extend broadband technology outside metropolitan areas. Sweden is committing £1.19bn.

   This despite the UK 'e-zar' loudly boasting about how good things are.
4. Basically, the UK gets whipped at non-LANned betwork gaming evry time :(

Re:Belgian version

[LinuxInDallas]

How does DSL reliability increase if you have two separate accounts. I mean, they share a common link to the phone company's central office...isn't that where the major source of problems were with DSL reliability?