Broadband Speeds Drop by 35% In the Evenings

According to comparison site uSwitch, UK broadband speeds drop by an average of 35% from their off-peak highs during the evenings when most people go online.

The report said that peak surf times were between 7pm and 9pm, meaning that was the slowest time to be online.  It went on to say that the best time to be online was between 2am and 3am.

There were also huge regional variations between evening and early morning surfing times.  Users in Evesham, Worcestershire, fared worst, according to the survey, with a massive 69% drop-off between off-peak morning and evening surfing.

Broadband speed is becoming more important as bandwidth-hungry services such as on-demand TV become more popular.  Telecoms regulator Ofcom recently revealed that British households download an average of 17 gigabytes of data every month over their home broadband connections.

Critics say consumers are being misled by internet service providers who continue to advertise their maximum broadband speeds, even though many users do not get them.

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Welsh ‘notspots’ Prevent Competitive Business

Tourism chiefs claim that a lack of fast broadband is preventing companies based in Wales from being able to compete.

The Wales Tourism Alliance said "tech-savvy" visitors expected make to bookings online and then to stay connected during their trip.  One Pembrokeshire hotelier even spent £8,000 putting in wireless broadband to solve the ‘notspot’ problem faced by so many in Wales. 

However, Bristol-based firm, Avonline believe they have a solution.  They claim that their service uses a powerful satellite over Europe launched earlier this year to bring a guaranteed minimum 6mbps service.  Avonline said it was starting its UK promotion in Wales due to Ofcom's assessment of the poor broadband provision.

A spokeswoman said the Welsh government did not promote or endorse any individual company, system or technology within the broadband support scheme.  According to the Welsh government said there were more than 100 active applications from Pembrokeshire for its broadband support scheme, including five community schemes.

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Ofcom Demand Rural Broadband Pricing Should Be Cut

The digital divide between town and country looks to be shrinking, as Ofcom rule that BT have to cut wholesale pricing.

Currently, BT is the only operator with equipment in many of the smaller telephone exchanges, meaning that other ISP’s have to factor ‘renting costs’ into their pricing plans.  The result is that customers often miss out on cheaper deals available in towns and cities.

In cities, many ISPs, other than BT, are able to offer consumers cheap broadband through a system known as local loop unbundling (LLU), where they place their own equipment in the exchange.  This is deemed ‘less economical’ in many rural areas, resulting in pricing being affected by the renting costs. 

As competition rises, this could be great news then for rural customers; however, the telecoms regulator has not applied the reduced charges ruling to ADSL2+, a next-generation copper-wire technology which offers speeds of up to 24Mbps.  The hope is that BT focus on investing in the new technology. 

The pricing changes should begin from mid August, and under the ruling BT must cut its rates by 12% below inflation per year until March 2014.

In the meantime, Fujitsu is bidding for government money to create a fibre network for rural areas. Both Virgin Media and TalkTalk have said they will offer services on it if the bid is successful.

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Average Broadband Speeds, No Such Thing

Broadband ‘Up to’ 20Mbps is a familiar sight in ISP marketing, but according to Ofcom's latest research, very few consumers actually get these kind of headline speeds.  As a result, the industry regulator is seeking to stop providers from advertising unrealistic broadband speeds

The research suggested that just 14% of customers on 'up to' 20Mbps services received speeds of over 12Mbps, while 58% averaged speeds of 6Mbps or less.  For example;

• BT 'up to' 20Mbps - 6.9 to 8.7Mbps
• Sky 'up to' 20Mbps - 7.4 to 8.8Mbps
• TalkTalk 'up to' 24Mbps - 7.7 to 9.3Mbps

Ofcom that ISPs should use Typical Speed Rates (TSR) to avoid confusing consumers.  It has set guidelines for these speeds. It recommends that ADSL services currently advertised as 'up to' 20Mbps (megabits per second) be changed to a TSR of between 3 and 9Mbps.

The response from the industry has been less than positive.  With BT far from impressed, John Petter, managing director of BT Retail said "We have real concerns with their approach. Broadband speeds vary from line to line and so it is meaningless to use one speed for advertising.

Faster Broadband Speeds in Europe

According to official EC figures, Broadband speeds in Europe have shot up in the last year.

For example, in July 2010, 29% of broadband lines in Europe ran at speeds of at least 10 Mbps, revealed Commission research.  By contrast in July 2009 only 15% of broadband lines were capable of hitting that speed.

The figures clearly show improvement, but the Commission has also warned that a lot of work needs to be done in order to meet Europe-wide targets on access and speed.

"Fast broadband is digital oxygen, essential for Europe's prosperity and well-being," said Neelie Kroes, commissioner for the digital agenda.

The EC has set a target of giving every European citizen access to a speed of 30Mbps or more by 2020.  Furthermore, they want to give half of all the 220 million households in the region access to 100mbps broadband.  Denmark and the Netherlands are streets ahead the rest of us in Europe with high-speed links already available to about 80% of households.