14 DAY TRIAL // The broadband speed is currently on every Internet user's top five problems list from all domains, right next to "war", "world hunger" and "finding Osama" but I couldn't really be completely honest and tell you where it ranks for me. I guess I'm not the humanitarian soul I thought I was, I'll tell you that.
The problem a recent report made in the United Kingdom has brought to attention is that more than a quarter of the 15 million broadband households there are dissatisfied with the speed offered by their internet service provider (ISP). uSwitch.com has conducted a research that turned up strange results: the average broadband customer pays abut 213 pounds a year to receive a speed of 5 Mb/s but he actually receives only 3 Mb/s while at the same time only 25 percent of all the users are unaware of the speed that they have signed up for and slightly more, 31 percent have absolutely no idea what speed they are actually receiving.
"The 'speed demons' are the broadband companies still willing to let their customers to pay for an advertised broadband speed when they know full well it is impossible for them to receive it," said Steve Weller, head of communications services, at uSwitch.com. "It's like selling a Porsche that will only go as fast as a Reliant Robin."
A meeting was called by Stephen Timms, the Minister of State for Competitiveness, in order to discuss the development of an ultra-fast broadband network in the UK and companies like BT, Sky and Virgin were invited to attend.
Webuser.com states that "According to one financial report, replacing copper wires with fiber-optic cable could result in potentially unlimited speeds, but would mean digging up streets at an estimated cost of ?15bn. But, addressing the summit, Stephen Timms said the UK must keep up with broadband developments or it could stay in the slow lane."