Is it business as usual or is a new era of broadband dawning?

The UK is currently risking endangering current wireless network investment worth hundreds of millions of Euros and the missing out on major employment opportunities without a clear plan for a fibre optics network.

Talks seem to have been put on hold regarding next generation networks because of the current recession. The ability for many providers to strike deals with each other and innovate the technology they already have has, however, not been stopped.

It is evident that broadband providers offering fixed line services are enhancing and consolidating the networks they have built so far, with investors bidding for the remains of Eircom and Magnet starting to bring fibre in Northern Ireland ashore.

In order for Vodafone to source a smaller amount of wholesale capacity from Eircom to power its Vodafone Home product it emerged recently that Vodafone and BT are currently in talks. Perlico was acquired for €80 million by Vodafone last year and are predominantly Eircom’s bitstream product but a resold version. A deal with E-net for multi-year access to Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) worth €17m was signed recently by Vodafone.

The successful unbundling of local loop in 22 locations was revealed by BT this week, which will allow its customers to get broadband speeds of up to 24Mbps at prices of €39.16 (Inc VAT) for 10GB download limit and a download limit of 30GB for €46.19. For €56.23 per month user will benefit from an unlimited download policy.

From next month all existing customers of BT will get the upgrade at no extra charge as long as they are on one of the 22 exchanges according to a spokesperson for BT.

In terms of the stakes for mobile broadband the reciprocal relationship between Vodafone and BT could prove to be quite an advantage. It would make a lot of sense for BT if it were to have a mobile broadband service as part of an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) deal due to the rapid move towards ultra-mobile computing devices, somewhere between netbooks and iPhones.