BT Dismisses Mobile Broadband as Alternative
16 June 20091.5 million homes without fixed-line broadband have put the government in a generous mode. The UK government plans to grant parts of the broadband spectrum to mobile broadband providers if they can cover the 15 percent of homes which are currently not covered by the government’s 2Mb broadband connection for all scheme.
Once this announcement was made, BT swiftly realised that it could extend its broadband coverage with cost-effective alterations to its existing network system. Installing second lines as one of the modifications to be made in people’s home wiring and employing the ADSL2+ technology to improve coverage are some of the plans that BT has in mind to fulfil its objectives.
Stephen Carter, the communications minister, has revealed that the government plans to make 2Mb broadband connections available to one and all in the
As of now, fixed-line broadband coverage only caters to 85 percent of the population who will be covered by the promised 2Mb connection while the remaining 1.5 million will be left to contend with far less speed. These statistics, as released by Ofcom, prompted Lord Carter’s right hand man, Kip Meek to hold meetings with mobile broadband suppliers and offer them the aforesaid slice of broadband spectrum to entice them to cover the overlooked 15 percent – click for pay as you go mobile internet info.
Now, BT reveals that perhaps the government is not required to explore the satellite and mobile broadband options to keep its promise. Instead BT could cover 93 percent of the population under the 2Mb scheme while incurring negligible costs. It remains to be seen whether the government takes this proposal ahead and lets the broadband spectrum allocation, which BT believes would harm competition, go for a toss.
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