Yes, it really is as crap as we have been saying

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Isn't it strange how we Brits work? The customers can complain all they want about the state of broadband in the UK, but it takes a report by the ONS for people to sit up and listen. All except the regulators, of course.

At what point will the true reality of the broadband situation in the UK finally be realised, and the telcos' lies, damned lies and moronic advertising campaigns be revealed to all and sundry? As well as ofcom, BSG, industry quangos, government think tanks, and all the rest's preposterous kerb crawling on this issue be stopped?

How hard can it be for actual speeds to be assessed on a national, customer level basis? After all, if we can run small apps on people's home computers to look for aliens (SETI@Home etc) then surely we can run a similar app to test people's actual speeds?

This country has lost itself in many ways, as we all know. I only really care about broadband, my business and my kids' education and future, but they are all intimately tied together for me as an Internet Marketer, reliant on my connection to work, progress and develop my company, and therefore run my home. (Which is of course why I started all this campaigning a very long 13 years ago).

The economic case for FTTH has long ago been proven, and the fact that so many people are dissatisfied with their connectivity has been apparent for a long time. Not just the speeds and quality of service, but ISPs customer service too. It is though now so hard to make a complaint about your broadband to _anyone_ that, judging by the number of calls I personally get to try and resolve problems in my village alone, everyone has given up trying the ISPs and Ofcom. When the BBC ran a quick survey on broadband, it turned out to be the most intensive, responded to article they have EVER run on their website.

Whoever gets FTTH in first, with decent customer service, preferably owned and managed by its users, will win this endgame. End of. We are all heartily sick of the telcos, of Ofcom failing to grasp or even clutch at the straws of reality, of Government pratting around bailing out banks and financial institutions with shedloads more of our money than would be required to FTTH even the most remote farmhouse, and all the rest of the wastage and idiocy going on.

In my letter going up the chimney, it clearly says, "Please, Santa, I have been very, very good this year (again). Please, please, please can I have broadband now? 100Mbps symmetrical. I will share it with others if I really have to, and I'm happy to dig for it. I really have waited more than long enough now and been incredibly patient. Please?"