back to article It's not broadband if it's not 10 Mbps, says Ovum

Market researcher Ovum has trotted around 30 countries worldwide to find out what makes people like their broadband provider, and reckons the minimum download speed to satisfy users is 10 Mbps. Based on both market performance data and qualitative surveys with end users, the analyst firm reckoned customers also expect three …

  1. Winkypop Silver badge
    Joke

    10 Mbps - impossible !!!

    Sir,

    I find your assertion that download speeds of 10 Mbps are even possible.

    Outrageous.

    Here in the colonies, we are less concerned about speed and more interested in the vibe.

    Oh, and what Rupert says.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    According to Akamai!

    Ah, another one of those tracking sites that get nested way down in other sites HTML.

    Scum of the earth more like.

    Hey Akamai, you and your like are blocked at my router.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: According to Akamai!

      Sounds a bit self-defeating to block Content Delivery Networks at your router. Or perhaps you're confusing your Alexa with your Akamai?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Re: According to Akamai!

      You may as well add Cloudflare, but we don't expect you telling us how great it is blocking it on this forum.

    3. Lunatik
      Black Helicopters

      Re: According to Akamai!

      Scum of the earth = Content delivery network?

      Tinfoil hats are over that way, buddy.

  3. Steven Roper

    As I understand it

    Broadband isn't specifically related to speed, it's the method of transmission used. Narrowband means that the signal is transmitted at a single carrier frequency or on a single channel. Broadband means the signal is transmitted over multiple carrier frequencies or channels. You could have a connection running at 300 baud but if it's over multiple channels or carrier frequencies it's still broadband.

    1. joeW

      Re: As I understand it

      Another example of what happens when brainless marketing-bots get their grubby hands on a nice well-defined engineering term.

      1. Ole Juul

        Re: As I understand it

        Another example of what happens when brainless marketing-bots get their grubby hands on a nice well-defined engineering term.

        Actually, it's worse than that. After the brainless marketing-bots get through with the term, the brainless politicians get to have a go at it. Here in Canada politicians bragging about our infrastructure use the term simply to differentiate from dialup. That means that a 1.5mbps rural wireless is called broadband despite the actual government mandate of 5mbps to qualify.

        1. werdsmith Silver badge

          Re: As I understand it

          Back in the 1990s I had an ISDN using both channels together to get something close to 128kb/s.

          I thought that was miraculous science fiction spend, compared to Vxx.Bis.

          I surprised about Canada being like that, especially as it has the invention of the telephone as one of its claims to greatness.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: As I understand it

            "I surprised about Canada being like that, especially as it has the invention of the telephone as one of its claims to greatness."

            My recollection of history seems to be a bit shady around the latter 19th century, then. Perhaps you can provide some relevant information.

            1. werdsmith Silver badge

              Re: As I understand it

              "My recollection of history seems to be a bit shady around the latter 19th century, then. Perhaps you can provide some relevant information".

              Invention of the first practical telephone?

              Brantford, Ontario to Paris Ontario in Canada I think.

              There is a claim that Elisha Gray did it in Illinois, before the Canadian claim though.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: As I understand it

      Broadband isn't specifically related to speed, it's the method of transmission used

      Technically that may be true, but the marketing peeps have sold the idea that broadband=high speed internet to the great unwashed.

      A more pressing problem than the terminology is the maths of this survey. Average speeds tell you little, since if 99% of the domestic customers got 9.8 Mb/s the country would show a lot worse in such rankings, but relatively few people would be complaining compared to the current situation. I'm on 100 Mbps cable, and in all honesty the difference in normal domestic use and the 10 Mb/s is only observable when downloading gigabytes of data. 4k streaming might make 10 Mb/s inadequate, but I'll worry about that when there's 4k content worth watching, when it's been filmed by somebody who understands what 4k can really do, and when all the viewing devices are compatible. By the time that occurs my eyesight will be so decrepit that I won't be too fussed about the fine grain details.

      The leaderboard should be set not by the highest average speed, but by the country with the lowest proportion of customers unable to access sub-par high speed internet, based on actual achieved speeds. We'd still have the issue of arbitrary thresholds, but if the UK wanted to leap close to the top of this survey, on the current method they could simply bribe Virgin Media to put all customers on a 150 Mb/s package, which would probably shift the national average sufficient to lift the average a goodly measure. In fact, if we're just chasing surveys, lets stop bribing BT to connect redneck country dwellers with crummy slow ADSL, because it'd be cheaper for VM to offer paper speed increases in urban areas.

      1. werdsmith Silver badge

        Re: As I understand it

        Yes, having a terabit to your house is still going to be a bit shit if somewhere in the upstream network is poor or over-capacity. It's also a bit shit if the web page you are browsing can download 50 adverts and 10,000 lines of client side javascript in 5 microseconds but your browser needs 30 seconds to render it all.

        I have 50Mb/s because that's the entry level, and most of the time it's no different to the crappy ADSL over copper services. When both my kids are streaming different Netflix and I need to download something then I guess it uses a bit more.

        A DVB multiplex over air seems to me to be a much more efficient way or doing video than routing everything in packets.

        1. John Tserkezis

          Re: As I understand it

          "When both my kids are streaming different Netflix and I need to download something then I guess it uses a bit more."

          Seriously, if this is the WORST you can say about your internet connection, you have nothing to complain about.

    3. wyatt

      Re: As I understand it

      A bit like the term 'home router' which is given to a collection of devices rolled into one.

      1. AndrueC Silver badge
        Flame

        Re: As I understand it

        Hey, if we're going to start attacking marketing terms (and indeed, why not?) why don't we all spend a moment contemplating 'Fibre broadband'.

        Let the screaming begin!

        1. SImon Hobson Bronze badge

          Re: As I understand it

          > ... spend a moment contemplating 'Fibre broadband'.

          Yay, I'm not alone. It's not fibre, never has been. It's no more "fibre" than ADSL - well OK, it's a little more fibre and a little less copper.

          Interestingly, and I could be wrong, didn't Virgin get pulled up on that and have to stop calling their high speed service "fibre" on the grounds that it's copper from the cabinet in the street to the customer ?

  4. Ynox

    Uhh.. Akamai are also a CDN company. They don't just do tracking cookies.

    I agree with this really. 10Mbit should be the minimum these days to get a rich browsing experience.

    1. John Tserkezis

      "Uhh.. Akamai are also a CDN company. They don't just do tracking cookies."

      So that makes it allright then?

  5. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge
    WTF?

    Only 4 devices connected on average?

    That all? Seems way low.

    Phones, tablets, TVs, Sky boxes, streaming TV boxes, PCs, laptops, consoles, CCTV, alarm systems, smart (urgh) appliciances ... any household with kids is likely to have a some or all of these, perhaps many times over. 3 kids here and between us we've something like 15 devices online.

    1. wyatt

      Re: Only 4 devices connected on average?

      Many devices, but how many are actually communicating at one time!?

  6. Tony S

    I get really depressed reading articles like this. I would love to get anything approaching 10 Mbps; currently 1.3 Mbps seems to be the best that they can do.

    Price doesn't come into it; everyone and his uncle sends me marketing drivel offering "Up to xxxx" (what ever flavour of the month), but as that phrase "Up to" clearly includes bugger all, that's what I get.

    Even worse are the pamphlets from BT offering me Fibre; every time, they check, they come back tell me "not at this time" and then try to persuade me to pay more for the same poor service that I'm currently getting. I did try out Tesco home broadband; at least it was cheaper than BT. But now, they've sold that side of the business to TalkTalk, so I'm expecting the service to deteriorate even more.

    1. AndrueC Silver badge
      Meh

      I did try out Tesco home broadband; at least it was cheaper than BT

      Tesco use the same infrastructure as BT so aside from saving money there is no reason to think it would run faster. In fact since one way to offer a cheaper service is to oversubscribe it you're more likely to see a slow down, especially at peak times.

      But now, they've sold that side of the business to TalkTalk, so I'm expecting the service to deteriorate even more

      I wouldn't. Talk Talk have more money to spend because they run their own network. The sale may mean more money being invested and therefore less of peak-time slow down. Or more likely you'll be moved onto TT's backhaul and network which will be better than what Tesco pay for.

      But unfortunately it sounds like your problem is your telephone line so no change of ISP is going to fix that. You'll have to wait until someone decides to upgrade your phone line. What does the BT availability checker say at the moment?

      1. Tony S

        "Tesco use the same infrastructure as BT so aside from saving money there is no reason to think it would run faster."

        I know and I didn't expect it to run faster. But the service was better and at half the price.

        " Talk Talk have more money to spend because they run their own network. "

        But I will still be on the same BT lines and getting the famed TalkTalk customer service. Plus they are planning to hoist their prices ... http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-3233652/TalkTalk-customers-face-eye-watering-price-hikes-50-October.html

        "What does the BT availability checker say at the moment?"

        It says I can get an upgrade. But when the engineer comes out to check, he mutters many rude words under his breath before confirming once again that I can't. (have now done this 5 times in as many years)

        Of course I could get a better line; but only if I was prepared to may a contractor to run new cables, because BT won't.

        1. AndrueC Silver badge
          Thumb Up

          Of course I could get a better line; but only if I was prepared to may a contractor to run new cables, because BT won't.

          The availability checker will tell you what cabinet you're on. If you create a thread here you might get some useful info.

  7. Nigel 11

    Lies, damned lies, and statistics....

    While UK regulator Ofcom reckons the average broadband user in its jurisdiction gets 23 Mbps, Akamai is more conservative about Blighty, with its https://www.akamai.com/us/en/our-thinking/state-of-the-internet-report/ State of the Internet report currently showing Brit's just about scrape by the Ovum cutoff with 11.6 Mbps

    The average of one person with 100Mbps and 9 people with 2Mbps is ... 11.8Mbps. So they'll all be happy. NOT!

    I get 4Mbps, provided it's not raining too hard. Could be worse. A friend in a smaller village gets 2 Mbps degrading to zero the moment it drizzles. How much would it cost per broadband line to put OpenReach under a universal service obligation to deliver 10Mbps to anyone, anywhere in the UK? Make that the price of not demerging it from BT?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lies, damned lies, and statistics....

      How much would it cost per broadband line to put OpenReach under a universal service obligation to deliver 10Mbps to anyone, anywhere in the UK?

      In cash terms, probably not much - a few tens of billions, which is going to be about a third the price of HS2, or about twice the cost of Crossrail or Heathrow R3. The money is readily available for projects like those, or the circa £30bn probable outturn at Hinkley Point C, so one must reason that the money for universal broadband could be found if the will were there.

      Given that about half of the cost would be digging holes and filling them in again, our army of circa 1.2m unemployed could be put to good use and costs reduced a tiny bit, but the overall problem is that the actual economic returns on most infrastructure are very low, in fact lower than the cost of capital. Which means that there might be better uses for the money, even if HS2, XR, and H R3 are not among them either.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Lies, damned lies, and statistics....

      10Mbps everywhere would cost a few tens of billions. The devil's in the detail though.

      A USO doesn't mean a company supplying at a loss. It means that everyone pays the same price based on socialisation of cost. The net result would be a massive increase in the cost of broadband for anyone using BT lines. BT's wholesale cost of line rental is the total annual cost of the network divided by the number of lines.

      If you do that, city dwellers migrate to Virgin and others. The subsidy is lost and the price to rural dwellers becomes even higher as the average line cost increases.

      If you try to force BT to sell below cost, that creates a market distortion where it's impossible for other telcos to compete - who could sell broadband cheaper than BT selling at a loss?

      If rural broadband costs £2k a premises and people are willing to pay about £20 a month in line rental, who covers the difference? That's the key question.

      Globally I see three main positions - no service at all to rural locations, public subsidy of a private operator, or some kind of nationalisation of the operator.

  8. Craigie

    Four devices???

    Let me think. In a household of 2, this is how it breaks down:

    3 devices permanently connected (2 pcs and sky box).

    2 more devices connected any time we are at home (phones).

    5 more devices potentially connected any time we are home (laptops, tablets, console).

    And we don't have any IoT stuff at all, yet!

  9. mrs doyle

    rural fibre

    I agree with previous commenters, it isn't fibre broadband if it comes down a phone line. We had patchy dial up, we're too far from the exchange, so we laid and lit our own fibre. My remote farm now gets a gigabit symmetrical for £30 a month. Just done a little speedtest for you from my computer. <img src="http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest/1386676.png">

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