Britain Trial 4G Broadband
Cornwall is well known for its Cornish pasties, ice cream, fishing and of course surfing but most recently it is the chosen location for a trail of next generation mobile broadband which could completely change the web design industry.
4G broadband trials will offer the next generation mobile broadband which will mean that there is internet access on the move which will be faster than existing networks.
Only 200 residents of St Newlyn have been chosen to participate within the trial. It is being conducted by Everything Everywhere and BT and is going to be based on the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard known as 4G. Special equipment has been handed out to the 200 residents so that they will be able to use the network as their main home broadband too in addition to being on the move.
When laboratory tests were carried out it was found that speeds of up to 150Mbps downstream could be achieved and to be realistic it will be offering around 10Mbps initially. Currently 3G offers on average 1.5Mbps of mobile broadband speed so the new 4G would be a significant improvement on this.
The government has laid out their broadband strategy and so through these trials Everything Everywhere and BT are hoping it will provide the evidence they need to delivery better broadband speed to rural areas.
From now until 2015 a subsidy pot of £530 million is to be handed out,
“BT is committed to working with the government and using technology innovation to find ways of addressing the remaining challenges within the UK were there are still broadband ‘not-spots’,” said Neil Stagg, CEO of BT Wholesale.
The fixed line network upgrade programme from BT is scheduled to cover only 70% of the premises but the focus will be placed on densely-populated areas where the return on investment will be highest.
Britain is falling behind with the US already offering services commercially and announced this week it will aggressively expand its coverage over the next two years.
Brick technology is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new faster broadband speeds as it could revolutionise web design and internet marketing.