 With a "government" unable to agree on basics, broadband development seems to have been pushed back several years:
Virgin Media has joined together with designer Alice Davies to create a laptop which will show the possibilities now available to customers. The laptop comes with built in Bluetooth and WiFi, plus a Virgin Mobile broadband service with an integrated webcam. The laptop can also be recharged wirelessly with a desk top mounting deck.
BT is expected to outline an expansion of its broadband network following the full year financial results which are released this week. Ian Livingston, the chief executive has indicated that BT plan to extend the planned network from 40% of UK homes to 66%. This should cost an extra £1.5bn. Competition with Virgin Media and political support is said to have prompted the move. The increase in coverage will also allow BT to strike investment deals with competitors such as Sky and Talk Talk. BT will also be outlining a new pricing structure which will aggressively target the competition.
Broadband analysis company Point Topic has found that the price of one MB of broadband has fallen by around 4% during the first quarter of this year. This decrease applied to all methods of delivery including cable and fibre optic. Fiona Vanier from Point Topic points out that competition with other providers and new technology has kept the price down over the last year. In fact, the overall cost has dropped by 7% in the past 12 months. Cable has seen the largest drop in price during 2009, having become 20% cheaper worldwide.
Fibre optic specialist the i3 group have been questioning what the new coalition government will do for the broadband industry. They have asked whether the scrapping of the 50p tax will pave the way for a better way of funding the next generation of super fast broadband. The Conservatives plan to use part of the BBC TV license fee to fund a super-fast roll-out, however this will not happen until 2012 at the earliest. The Conservatives have also indicated they want private investment to fund much of the improvement and they hope this will result in 100Mbps by 2017 to most of the population. The Liberal Democrats supported the 50p tax and aimed for a modest 40Mbps for 90% of the country. Experts fear that waiting until 2012 is too long and that neither party tackle the issue of rural broadband coverage.
Research commissioned by the British Computer Society has found that women benefit from access to technology more than men. Access to IT gives people more control in their lives and helps women, and the educationally and economically disadvantaged. It is thought that women benefit more because they communicate more often. The researchers commented that people often reported feeling lost if they didn't have their smartphone with them and they say this is first time a link has been established between happiness and IT.
Broadband provider Talk Talk has increased the number of subscribers by 42,000 in the last three months. This is 6,000 new customers compared to the previous quarter. Charles Dunstone from Talk Talk said that the last year has seen a transformation in the company after the purchase of Tiscali. This create the largest provider of unbundled broadband and voice services with 23% of market share. The company has further plans for mobile broadband bundles and will be working with BT to explore superfast next generation broadband. They will also participate in Project Canvas. Their competitiveness comes from the high download allowances and good value for money according to Broadbandchoices.co.uk.
BT Broadband has joined together with OnLive, an online gaming service to provide streaming access to the latest games without buying hardware and software. The service will be launched later in the year, but is already available in the US for a monthly fee. Gavin Patterson from BT commented that the company want to offer entertainment to their customers and offer a huge catalogue of games available instantly over the TV. A download speed of 5Mbps will be required for high definition games. Expert warn that users need to keep watch on download limits or fair usage policies if they use the service. †
    
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