For most of the British public, the internet began in the 1990s where it was estimated that the internet grew by 100% per year. It was in the year 2000 when the UK was first introduced to broadband, although the majority of broadband users came from large companies, due to the high cost, the situation now is very different as consumers can buy broadband for as little as 10 per month.

The difference between broadband and dialup is very small in price but broadband speeds can be significantly faster. This will gradually force dialup connections to extinction. According to BT, broadband is now available in 99.6% of households in the UK, 65% of UK households have an internet connection, and of those with internet, 55% are broadband connections.

This may all sound great, but that is far from the truth on a global scale. The Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Developments (OECD) examined broadband services in 30 countries worldwide this year, concluding that the UK is in fact, in the bottom third of the list. Japan was found to have the cheapest price for broadband at 11p per megabyte, while also proving to be the fastest with speeds of 100 megabyte per second. The UKs cheapest broadband comes out at 1.81 per megabyte with speeds of up to 26 megabytes per second (but only in very limited areas).

So whats next? Well according to some, we may not need to invest highly in broadband technology after all.

To play catch up in broadband speeds by investing in infrastructure would cost the UK a lot of money. BT are investing in creating a UK-wide fibre optic network that could deliver superfast speeds of 100Mb, but is it worth it? Yes, but only if the internet stays as a World Wide Network.

Researchers in the US are looking to invest $350m not on broadband technology but towards what claims to be the successor to the internet. Similarities can be found in Europe where the EUs Future and Internet Research (F.I.R.E.) programme plan to invest money on the new internet? This has led to suggestions that the internet will be regionalised, therefore, the end of www? For someone in Europe wanting to access networks in America or Asia would have to pay more than someone wanting to browse within the EU.

The future of the internet is difficult to judge, with timescales of 10-15 years, these claims are still at the earliest of stages, till then; we just need to wait and see.

If you are interested in taking advantage of current broadband technology, then you should compare all the broadband providers available in your area.

Adair Cameron is an experienced writer based in the UK.

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