Analyst praises government's 2Mbit/s broadband plan

Millions of homes fall into the 'slowband' zones below the 2Mbit/s threshold

Research firm Point Topic has come out in support of the UK government's proposals for a universal broadband service delivering at least 2Mbit/s downstream to every home.

The target was announced by Lord Carter, minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, in an interim version of the upcoming Digital Britain report.

The figure was heavily criticised as too little too late by some commentators, but Point Topic strongly supports the proposal as long as the quality of service can be assured.

"We believe that investing to deliver 2Mbit/s could provide the platform for full next-generation broadband in areas where it would not otherwise happen for many years," said Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic.

Johnson agreed that the target appeared to be very modest at first glance, especially as more than two thirds of homes in the UK can already get connection speeds of 2Mbit/s or more, and some areas are trialling services of up to 50Mbit/s.

But he was quick to point out that there are still millions of homes that fall into the 'slowband' zones below the 2Mbit/s threshold, many of which have no prospect of improvement without major investment.

Johnson added that the move would introduce a basic level of service for everyone, and provide a solid platform to build on and provide much higher speeds in the future.

The telephone network will require investment to bring fibre to many of BT's street cabinets, in order to adequately support the introduction of this Universal Service Commitment (USC).

"FTTC [fibre-to-the-cabinet] is the key next-generation access technology which will support download speeds of 40Mbit/s or more," explained Johnson.

"So the apparently cautious requirement for 2Mbit/s will help to provide financial support and a market driver for next-generation access. Looking at it this way, the pundits who protest that 2Mbit/s is too modest are missing the point."

FTTC would need to be rolled out to 30 per cent of the country, covering more than seven million homes, in order to deliver on the promise of a universal 2Mbit/s service, according to Point Topic's research.

However, Johnson warned that the service needs to be reliable in order to be effective and provide a decent quality of service. Point Topic is calling for a guaranteed performance target to be added to the USC to ensure that the minimum 2Mbit/s is available 99.9 per cent of the time.

This view was reinforced by a recent study from communication watchdog Ofcom, which said in its initial findings into consumer experience of broadband performance that present average speeds in peak hours are more than 30 per cent below off-peak speeds, highlighting the importance of reliability over pure theoretical top speeds.

"Making quality of service part of the USC, as well as a minimum speed, also means that all broadband users throughout the UK could stand to benefit, not just those who live in the 'slowband' zones today," concluded Johnson.

"One way or another, all users would have to pay a little more for their broadband because of a USC. It will be a little bit more popular if it includes features that benefit everybody."