It is already possible using cable to achieve 50mb broadband UK speeds, and even that is not the limit. 100mb will be rolled out in the near future and even faster speeds are the long term goal of various providers. So, with pressure to continually increase online connectivity speeds, what will be the effect on our online experience? What will we be able to do that we can’t do at present?
With the kind of broadband speeds that the majority of us enjoy today we can order goods online, keep abreast of the latest news and opinion, take part in social networking, and even watch television; however there are many technologies that could make a big difference to our lives but which are restricted currently by the lack of super-fast data transfer speeds.
One of these is advanced teleconferencing applications such as telemedicine. This requires high definition communications between a consultant and his remote patient, and means that both upload and download speeds need to be equally fast. As well as providing a communications platform in which patient and consultant can communicate as if they were in the same room, the consultant may well need to access data from medical devices that are used to monitor the patient’s condition.
Similar technologies will enable advanced high definition video calling between individuals and e-learning in which a teacher can communicate with a class of individuals who can also simultaneously communicate with each other.
Entertainment will also benefit. Already many people use high speed internet for gaming and the gaming experience of using super-fast broadband will be astounding, allowing many players from all round the world to participate in high definition games without experiencing any perceptible latency.
In the future television is likely to be delivered mainly over the internet. Already we are seeing many more online services being provided by television companies, though currently they are limited by available internet technologies. Super-fast broadband will mean that we will be able to view what we like when we like, and in super-high quality.
Progressively more people are working from home. The important benefits are that we don’t waste time and money travelling to and from work and that we can to a larger extent schedule our own work day. The downside though is that communications with fellow workers and clients are limited. Super-fast broadband will provide much improved video communications and allow us to share data in real time; effectively we will be working in a virtual office shared with our colleagues.
These are just a few implications of super-fast broadband. As it is rolled out, new technologies that are currently in the pipeline, plus many that are not yet even imagined, will make use of it. The internet changed the world; the super-fast internet will change it again.
