My New Fibre Broadband Will Likely Be My Last

Mike Halsey MVP
Apr 5, 2012
Internet
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8

Next Friday I'm getting a new fibre-optic broadband line installed at my home, and it's very exciting.  Because of where I live I've not been able to take advantage of existing cable services, primarily because my street is block-paved and the cable company took one look at it and said "We're not taking responsibility for putting that all back", so I've had to wait for a new project to be completed where the entire county has had FTTB (fibre to the box) installed.

This is going to give me 40Mbps broadband.  I know what you're thinking, it's still nowhere near the 100Mbps some countries and even cable customers here in the UK can get, but for someone who works online, write articles here, spends just about every hour of the day surfing the Internet, watches online videos and does a lot of online gaming it's actually quite fast enough.

This will though, I am fully expecting, going to be the very last time I sign up for a home broadband connection.  I don't change ISPs very often, the last time was in about 2004, but by the time my next change comes about I expect it to be a move to full 4G wireless.

Now here in the UK the governments has helpfully held up the auction of the 4G radio spectrum with seemingly endless reams of red tape, but it will inevitably happen in the next couple of years.  Finally we'll (apparently) have speeds on a wireless connection that can't be matched by most home and business broadband deals.  I say apparently because it entirely depends how many people use the network and for what, and also because we all remember the promises that were made about 3G in 2003.

The big problem with mobile broadband at the moment is that it is still extremely expensive, compared to a landline broadband connection anyway.  I pay for a mobile SIM for my laptop at just £5 a month but for this I'm capped at 500Mb, nowhere near enough for everyday home and/or work use.

As the networks wise up to the opportunities ahead of them with 4G however we will no doubt see prices drop to compete directly with current DSL broadband lines, and 4G routers will suddenly be everywhere.

This will be a very exciting time and I'm looking forward to it.  To be honest it actually seems quite strange that in this modern day and age, with Internet access being so ubiquitous, that we're all still tied to our homes for general unmetered access on PCs and laptops.  Something has to change.

Suffice to say with the advent of 4G it certainly will change and when it does it'll be huge and everywhere.  It doesn't matter who you are or where you live, it will be impossible to get away from the immense marketing machine that will accompany it.

I'm looking forward to it as it's going to be very exciting, a great opportunity and I don't really need the landline anyway (nobody ever calls me on it, only businesses, as people know I@m on the mobile).  This fibre-broadband connection will very likely then be my last.  What about yourselves?  Will you switch wholesale to 4G?

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Comments

  1. GOPAL said on November 17, 2012 at 7:10 am
    Reply

    I WILL FOR THIS TO COME IN INDIA

  2. Julian Knight said on April 8, 2012 at 11:03 am
    Reply

    Ah, the joys (not) of cable. I live in one of 1/2 dozen houses that are not served by cable which ends a few meters away in each direction! We also live 5km from the exchange so 2mb is the best I can get. Yes, this is in the UK too and in a major city.

    On the other hand, when I was looking to upgrade to an iPhone last year, I found the best deal by far was the Three network. For 25UKP pm I get genuinely unlimited data and hotspot capability. Indeed I’m using it now with my iPad tethered at the in-laws! Don’t know what the speed is but it is more than acceptable for browsing.

    Regards, Julian Knight

  3. some guy said on April 7, 2012 at 6:51 am
    Reply

    @Anon A. Mus
    haha i see what you’re saying and yeah thats pretty messed up.

    here i supposedly signed up for a 3megabit connection and the max speed i get is 90kilobytes wtf.

    frontier communication sucks.

  4. NKS said on April 6, 2012 at 6:39 pm
    Reply

    I am using 10mpbs unlimited connection here in India. It’s good enough for me. Thinking about moving to 15mbps. 40mbps is great

  5. Anon A. Mus said on April 6, 2012 at 5:33 pm
    Reply

    Wait a minute! The author of this post lives in England and a commenter who lives in India both have 40 Mbps?! Yet, here I am in an American city of a quarter of a million people, and our Internet providers make it seem that we should be grateful with our 7 Mbps service.

    I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised by our lack of technological progress. Last week, we got the wheel. Next week, we’re expecting fire.

  6. Roman ShaRP said on April 6, 2012 at 10:04 am
    Reply

    I don’t know how my current plan is marketed, but download speed on good servers is more than 300 KB/s , so I’m satisfied.

    True, there is no good mobile plan around, but I’m not in big need for it.

  7. Rishabh Jain said on April 6, 2012 at 9:41 am
    Reply

    Oh 40Mbps its awesome here in India i am using BSNL Broadband and my plan is just providing me like 512Kbps, whoops just waiting for the company’s to bring some plans like you are having well it will be a real fun.

  8. Morely the IT Guy said on April 6, 2012 at 4:12 am
    Reply

    Clearly, Mike, you don’t understand how wireless works.

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