After announcing the availability of its first fibre optic broadband connections for the consumer market, BT has said that its business arm will also be encouraging UK enterprises to switch to the high speed internet technology with a new package tailored to their specific requirements.

Although the business package will use the same fibre optic connections that will offer 40Mbps download speeds and 10Mbps upload speeds, businesses will be able to have their data traffic prioritised over home users during periods of peak use.

A fibre optic broadband connection will enable businesses to run advanced VoIP services and allow for video streaming and high quality conferencing. The growth of cloud computing for storage, backup and remote networking will also be facilitated by the new package.

The poor weather at the beginning of the year meant that many were stranded at home without any means of continuing to work, but with fibre optic broadband, businesses will be able to roll out a home working scheme as part of their continuity planning.

Nigel Stagg, Managing Director of BT’s business division, said that although over 50 per cent of businesses are currently enjoying the benefits of high speed broadband, BT is looking to expand its fibre networks so that every single enterprise and organisation in the UK has the opportunity to connect faster and do more.

When you compare business broadband packages you will now be able to take into account the four new BT bundles that make use of fibre optic technology. Simple Broadband’s Communication Manager Simon Gerrard said that “Upgrading to the latest broadband technology will be imperative for many businesses in the UK and BT’s new deals highlight just how far things have come and indeed how far they are set to go.”

A new consultation between the government and the public has been initiated in order to find out just what it is that the average citizen wants from their internet connection over the next decade.

There is a one billion pound fund available to help kick start developments and improvements and the debate is certain to centre on the question as to whether high speed broadband should be provided to suburban dwellers first, or whether universal availability of basic broadband is a more pressing issue.

The problems facing the telecoms industry are those of market demand versus profitability. In densely populated areas there is a high likelihood of fibre optic broadband and LTE Mobile Broadband becoming available without government intervention, but rural areas are less attractive because of the high costs of setup compounded by the relatively sparse customer numbers.

Whatever decisions are made over the next few years, the economic impact of broadband technology is going to be significant. The London School of Economics predicts that if public and private sectors invest five billion pounds in the development of next-generation broadband networks, over a quarter of a million new jobs would be created and businesses of all sizes would benefit.

Over the next few years, BT broadband deals are expected to be able to offer fibre optic cable connections to between 50 and 70 per cent of the population and the government has targeted 2017 as the year in which next-gen coverage must reach 90 per cent in order for the work to be deemed a success.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson pointed out that Virgin Media was already offering half the country the chance of connecting at 50Mbps, but that the new consultation, the large public fund at the government’s disposal and higher speed BT broadband deals would help to significantly improve broadband internet coverage.

2010 is set to be a good year for businesses around Wales after news that BT is planning to roll out two high-speed broadband technologies across the country emerged. BT Business MD Nigel Stagg said that the availability of ADSL connections capable of up to 24Mbps download speeds should become widespread next year and added that the 40Mbps fibre optic connections that BT is installing as part of its 21st Century Network upgrades are also going to benefit business users.

24Mbps ADSL connections are already available in Bangor and Caernarfon and Mr Stagg indicated that business customers in other towns such as Wrexam should also be eligible for a faster connection for their enterprises.

The most important of the new broadband technologies that BT has promised to offer Welsh business customers is fibre optic connectivity. BT is using Fibre-To-The-Cabinet (FTTC), which will allow customers to continue to use their existing copper land line telephone connections to provide the last mile of connectivity whilst the rest of the work is performed by a fibre optic network.

In the first instance, business broadband customers in Wales should expect download speeds of up to 40Mbps and upload speeds of 2-15Mbps if they sign up for a fibre optic broadband package from BT. The download speeds are set to increase as time passes, with a target of up to 60Mbps for FTTC customers in the near future.

In the first half of 2010 BT plans to roll out FTTC at 100 different telephone exchanges around the UK, with a small proportion allocated to Wales.

Simple Broadband`s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard commented that BT’s plans to improve the availability of high-speed broadband for businesses everywhere was “an exciting prospect and one that should significantly drive recovery and growth over the next decade.”

BT has recently announced some fairly significant developments which will please shareholders in the firm as well as business and home broadband customers around the country.

The first piece of news highlights the fact that BT has just passed the five million customer mark for its broadband service. It sent the lucky 5 millionth customer, a chip shop worker from Glasgow, to see the Winter Olympics to mark the milestone which assures BT’s place as the UK largest fixed line broadband provider.

The second exciting development came when BT announced that it was currently ahead of schedule for the roll out of the latest fibre optic broadband technology. The intention now is to make fibre optic broadband available to 10 million customers around the UK in time for the 2012 Olympics and so far the £1.5 billion project is moving along swiftly.

In the last two years BT revealed that it has gained the custom of over one million new business and home broadband users and a spokesperson for the company said that the growth in the number of business customers signing up for broadband was set to continue as higher speeds become available across a wider area.

BT said that with the current work rate it would be able to connect 4 million customers to the internet using the new fibre optic network by the end of 2010 and the pressures of being official communications partner and sponsor of the 2012 Olympics are clearly helping BT to stay on task and stick to its promises.

BT CEO Ian Livingstone said that they expected to gain support from the government in order to ensure that businesses could have access to high speed broadband connections in time for 2012.

It is clear that by the end of next year people looking to compare business broadband packages will be faced with a much wider selection of high speed connections than those that are currently available.

Industry regulator Ofcom has revealed figures which show that the price of broadband in the UK is considerably lower than in the majority of other nations around the world.

The recent report analysed figures from various developed nations including Germany and Italy, identifying that the cost of most digital TV, home phone, broadband and mobile services is lower in the UK than anywhere else.

The figures concluded that a family of four in the UK could pay as little as £108 for mobile phones, broadband, home phone and TV packages to cover the entire household. This includes an 8Mbps broadband connection and mobile phones for every member of the family.

Deals covering all of these services in a bundle, which is usually the cheapest way in which families can pay for them, would cost customers in Italy 28 per cent more. In terms of value, Italy is the UK’s closest rival, although the gap in average prices is significant.

Ofcom’s CEO Ed Richards indicated that the low price of broadband in the UK was due to a highly competitive market. With BT broadband deals and bundles competing with comparable packages from Virgin Media and Tiscali, prices are likely to stay low and continue to fall in the UK over the coming months.

Mr Richards also cited innovation within the UK broadband industry as key to its continued success and the wide availability of digital services despite recent criticism of government plans for the future.

In other research from Ofcom, it was discovered that over 35 per cent of all UK households take advantage of BT broadband deals or similar in order to receive additional services including home phone and digital TV from a single provider.

A new strategy to help protect the most sensitive members of society from the potential threats inherent online has been launched by the Government.

Recent government statistics revealed that 99 per cent of all children aged between 8 and 17 had access to the internet and of that grouping just under a 5th claim to have been exposed to indecent or inappropriate material on the internet.

In order to combat fears of online safety for young broadband users, the UK Council for Child Internet Safety has set down the new guidelines as part of the Green Cross Code for internet protection.

A three-pronged recommendation, called the Digital Code of Zip It, Block It, Flag It, is key to helping parents have confidence that the youngest members of their family will avoid coming to harm whilst online.

This code involves making sure that children do not divulge personal information to strangers, do not open suspicious email messages and if they do come into contact with inappropriate material or relationships online that the children feel able to tell a responsible adult about it.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke about the new scheme, identifying the importance of the internet in the education and entertainment of the younger generation. Mr Brown said that the internet use had to be properly supervised to ensure that the online world is as safe as the real world.

There are many BT broadband options which include parental blocks, preventing children from accessing inappropriate sites and other providers such as TalkTalk offer similar services to help promote and enable youngsters to enjoy broadband internet connections in their own homes whilst staying safe. Adults will now need to learn as much about broadband as their children.

Millions of pounds are being invested in the broadband infrastructure for Northern Ireland in order to offer much faster connections to home and business broadband customers around the country.

A total of over £48 million will be injected into the industry over the next year and a half, with the promise of improved speeds for both rural and urban customers.

Businesses who want to take advantage of high speed connections are in luck, as the plans include the provision of a 10Mbps minimum download speed for urban businesses, whilst a 2Mbps minimum is expected for rural businesses.

Completion of the improvements is targeted for mid-2011 and half of the money is being invested by British Telecom after it won the contract.

The remaining money is being provided from various public sector sources, including some from the European Union.

A spokesperson for the government said on announcing the plans that the money would not only enable faster broadband for all residents of Northern Ireland, regardless as to their location, but would also create up to 1000 new jobs as a result of the improved broadband infrastructure.

Cheap cable broadband using fibre optic technology will be key to the success of the investment scheme, although 166 telephone exchanges are being upgraded and various wireless broadband hotspots are also going to allow for wider coverage.

Many are pleased that the investment will help those in rural areas, where broadband connections are traditionally sluggish or non-existent. The inclusive nature of the plans is being heralded as a step in the right direction that other areas of the UK would do well to follow if growth and productivity are to be improved.

BT Chief Executive Ian Livingston said that cheap cable broadband provided using fibre optic technology would continue to be integral to increased speeds and wider availability of broadband in the future.

When it emerged at the beginning of the week that BT Chairman Sir Michael Rake was the only member of his small village community to have access to a high speed broadband connection, cries of preferential treatment and foul play were heard.

Residents of Hambleden in Oxfordshire were told that Sir Michael was trialling a new service that could be part of the various BT broadband deals in the future and that it was not possible to provide the rest of the properties with a similar service.

One resident said that he had been waiting for broadband to arrive for 5 years, but Sir Michael had been given access to broadband after living in the village for just 12 months. The resident went on to say that BT had told him it would cost nearly £70,000 to connect his own home up to a high speed broadband connection.

This incident is indicative of the wider problems facing those living in isolated communities. The current ADSL technology cannot supply homes that are a long way from their local telephone exchanges and installing fibre optic broadband requires a significant level of investment, which most believe is not met by the demand for broadband in rural areas.

Millions of UK homes are in the same position, although government funding and the broadband tax could help alleviate the situation in the coming years. However, universal broadband availability is still a long way off and the disheartening news received by Hambleden residents was met with a similar sense of helplessness by rural residents around the UK.

BT customers living in urban areas have less to be glum about. The next generation of Broadband Enabling Technology (BET) which Sir Michael is apparently trialling will be set to benefit town and city dwellers first and upcoming BT broadband deals should soon allow far more people to connect at high speeds in these areas.

For those looking for broadband, phone and TV bundle package deals the recent offer from BT Broadband whereby the first 3 months of broadband access is free has seen real savings. However, Simple Broadband has been reminded by BT Broadband that the deal comes to an end in just over a week – the last day to sign up is 11 December.

The free broadband deal applies to phone, TV and broadband packages but if you are not interested in the TV element then it is also valid for the phone and broadband only packages too.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager, Simon Gerrard said: “BT Broadband’s 3 months free offer is a great opportunity ahead of Christmas and those looking to switch their supplier will need to move quickly.”

A broadband expert has revealed that it is likely the next generation of broadband will allow for vast improvements to the infrastructure of UK businesses, with internet solutions replacing current practices to allow for growth and future prosperity.

However, Roger Darlington of the Communications Consumer Panel told the audience of a seminar on the future of broadband internet that he was unsure how home and business broadband customers would actually drive the uptake of the next-generation technologies.

Darlington noted that detailed analysis was needed in order to assess just how the networking technologies, which will allow faster connections for a wider spectrum of businesses, will be used once they are established.

Darlington was speaking at the Westminster eForum last week. The forum brought into question the contentious issues of the government subsidy of high speed broadband networks, asking why so much money was being pumped in when little was known about the actual use of such an infrastructure.

It was made clear that although development of broadband in the future was necessary, the fact that only three quarters of UK properties were eligible for an internet connection of any kind should be considered to be the most important issue to address with current Government funding.

More controversy surrounding key broadband providers arose last week after it emerged that the BT chairman had been supplied with a high speed connection in his home village whilst every other resident and local business had been unable to access even the most basic broadband service.

Despite the fact that new BT business broadband packages offer faster speeds and wider availability, many isolated business owners feel that they are being left behind as most of the new developments first occur in heavily populated areas.