Government invests in 1Gb/s research
Looking to the future of ultra-fast broadband
By Patrick Goss
May 19th

Fibre Optic cable - speeding up connections
A £1million investment from the UK government will help fund research into boosting broadband speeds up to 1Gb/s.

With Virgin Media leading the way with its 50Mb service, and promising much faster speeds when the market is ready for it, fibre optic connections are becoming increasingly popular.

However, the government, ahead of a commitment to offer a 2Mb/s connection to every UK citizen, is investing six figures in 13 projects that promise to bring the next generation of broadband.

Identifying technical issues

The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) will aid firms in achieving the higher speeds, and collaborating in pan-European projects.

"The challenge is to identify ways to address the technical issues facing the introduction of Ultra-Fast Broadband within the next decade and to build European collaborations to exploit the technology," said Mike Biddle, a spokesman for the TSB in a statement.

The research apparently includes a study into future technologies and a timeline for Britain to put an infrastructure in place for ultra-fast broadband, as well as passive components that will help connect homes to the fibre optic network.

Via BBC