Whilst the Tories and the Labour Party continue to argue over various issues both have agreed that faster broadband is something that the UK needs.

We have all become used to officials from the Labour Party and the Conservative Party arguing over a variety of issues that affect the country, as well as global issues, but recently officials from both parties have come together and agreed on one major issue that some think is having a major negative impact on the UK. Officials from both parties have agreed that the issue of faster broadband in the UK is one that urgently needs to be addressed.

The Conservative Party leader, David Cameron, has recently stated that the UK has ’some of the slowest broadband speeds in the developed world.’ He said that when it came to investment in next generation networks using fibre optic technology the UK had fallen behind other countries such as Japan, the United States, and Germany, amongst others.
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A recent report released by a popular broadband information site found that broadband connection speeds dropped drastically during peak hours and has led to speculation on whether many of the provider will be able to cope with the increase demands on their networks.

The conclusions from a recent report on broadband connection speeds found that at peak times of day many broadband speeds fell by up to 40 percent. Tiscali was one of the providers that were tested for its worst and best broadband speeds and the difference between these two speeds last month came out at just below 40 percent, with a 25 percent drop on average.

Be broadband and O2 were at the other end of scale in the tests and had just an 11 percent difference between their worst and best. These broadband providers do, however, use the same unbundled network as each other even though they are marketed as completely separate brands.
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An announcement made recently by the government communication minister that he is thinking about bringing a new policy into force that will ensure that anyone who wishes to get a broadband connection over a providers’ network will be able to do so.

The implementation of a new Universal Service Obligation (USO) that will enforce broadband provision to anyone throughout the UK who wish to make use of it is now being seriously considered according to a recent announcement from Stephen Carter, the Communications Minister.

BT are currently obliged to give access to a dial-up internet connection and a landline phone service to all households in the country thanks to the setting up of a USO back in 1984. This USO had been set up back in the days when BT was a telecommunications monopoly and was operated by the state. There is a current cost of around £57 million to £74 million for the provider to live up to its obligations.
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Media giant Virgin Media has employed the services of actor Samuel L Jackson in its advertisements in the hope that this will help to increase the number of broadband customers.

With the broadband sector becoming increasingly competitive, and broadband providers all vying for the business of consumers particularly in the current recession, one media giant has decided to employ the services of a Hollywood star in the hope that this will help to increase the number of broadband customers it has on its database.

Media giant Virgin, owned by Sir Richard Branson, has pulled actor Samuel L Jackson on board to head up its television advertisements. Virgin hopes that having such a high profile actor on board advertising its broadband service will help it to gain increased custom in the broadband field and help it to keep its high position amongst Internet Service Providers when it comes to broadband customer numbers.
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In many homes throughout the UK the use of broadband on Christmas day seems to have become the main activity, with the Queens speech being ignored and people turning to sites like Facebook instead.

It was found that many internet users went onto Facebook and other social networking sites instead of watching or listening to the Christmas speech by the Queen, according to research performed by Plusnet, the internet service provider.

Between 14:00 and 15:00 GMT, which was the time of broadcasting for the Queen’s speech, online activity was found to have risen. It was also that later in the afternoon more broadband users all over the country went online to chat with family and friends around the world the amount of online usage increased by 25 percent.
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