I was reading two articles on broadband today – both heralding great increases in the speed of broadband in the near future. The first was an article on the BBC News site which talked about ADSL+. With ADSL+ (which is rolled out over plain copper) if you “live within 2km of a central exchange you can have up to 24 megabits to your home” – this is, of course in the UK. In Ireland, this will be rolled out grudgingly by Eircom in 2025 if we are lucky!

In another article on Broadband, I read where Verizon, in the US are rolling out high speed wireless broadband. In fact they plan to “offer 5-Mbit downloads/2-Mbit uploads for just $39.95 a month, or $34.95 a month as part of an existing Verizon plan. The mid-tier upgrade, however, will offer a whopping 15-Mbits/s down and 2-Mbits/s upstream for just $49.95 a month, or $44.95 a month as part of an existing package. Prices for the 30-Mbit offering have not been set.” 30-Mbit? That is unheard of connectivity! in this scenario movie downloads will be a very real possibility, as will live videoconferencing from the home and online gaming will be able to go into uncharted realms.

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