After Dr Jyoti Choudrie of the Brunel University commented that that the UK “needs to sit up and take note of the example Japan is setting”, BT CEO Ben Verwaayen has responded – and has basically said that speed doesn’t matter over 2Mbps. One in four homes in Japan has a 12Mbps connection, used for VoIP.
“All services, with the exception of live TV, are possible with 1.5 to 2Mps” he said at the UK Technology Partnering and Investment Forum. We’ll soon see if BT really believe that when they start marketing domestic connections faster than that.
Verwaayen wants us to concentrate on services – but this seems at odds with what users want. Broadband subscribers are more than capable of finding their own content, and would rather their broadband ISP provided them with a fast, reliable connection than pop videos they can find on other sites.