The BBC has recently announced that it will be broadcasting its channel live on the Internet, but this could lead to rising costs for consumers

There are concerns that the cost of broadband could go up for consumers as a result of plans by the BBC to broadcast live on the Internet. The BBC announced recently that all of its programmes will be available to watch on the Internet within a matter of months, and effectively this means that viewers will no longer need a television set to watch their favourite BBC programs, as they can watch them online.

However, industry experts fear that broadband providers will have to pass on the increased costs relating to upgrading the network to consumers in the form of higher broadband charges. There are also concerns that the heavier traffic resulting from the broadcasting will result in slower connection speeds for broadband users.
One industry official has accused the BBC of ‘riding roughshod’ over Internet Service Providers. He said: “It’s not listening to their concerns about capacity and speed. The BBC thinks that it’s improving its services by broadcasting BBC1 live on the internet. However, licence-fee payers will ultimately lose out because it’s just going to add more pressure to what is already a creaky network.” He added: “If everyone’s watching The Apprentice at 9pm on their computers, connections are going to slow down, which could lead to higher prices as companies are forced to improve the network.”
An official from the BBC said that the corporation wanted to ‘build on the success of the iPlayer’. He stated: “We want to develop bbc.co.uk to include a broad range of the BBC’s broadcast content, as well as new and interactive forms of media that enable audiences to interact with and contribute to the website.”