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Friday 11 February 2011

More against the USC

For those who still think a 2Mbps USC is sufficient, Geoff Daily reports on the Netflix results on his app-rising blog. And the UK should be worried. Very worried.

This blog post can be read at 5tth.blogspot.com


Spot this line:

"....you don't just need broadband with a peak of 5Mbps (their HD video is encoded at 4.8Mbps), you need broadband that can sustain a 5Mbps connection."

And that's just to watch a film. Imagine if it was something important like an X-Ray or HD vid conf with your heart consultant...........

Or why not just forget that these normal, everyday things can and are being done around the world in 2011 in people's sitting rooms and offices, and pretend that up to 2Mbps asymmetrical in 2015 will be jus' fine and dandy....;o)

5 comments:

PhilT said...

I can still hold the opinion that providing an HD video streaming service over the internet is not something I want to see public money used for.

Don't use HD and that particular problem is solved. Or use a download and watch it tomorrow.

Cybersavvy UK said...

The problem is Phil that whilst Geoff uses the entertainment angle, the really valuable uses of HD video are in telehealth and education, as we saw and heard in Milan.

In business, HD conferencing is proving a vital tool for, say, collaboration amongst remote workers to increase productivity, for customer service, for efficiency, for reducing bottom line costs etc etc etc. So, as other economies see a 2% rise in GDP with FTTH, we stagnate, our economy shrinks, jobs are lost, services are axed etc.

We can argue about the need for HD vs bog standard video, but why are we so entrenched in the idea that the UK deserves nothing better because the incumbent doesn't feel like playing?

Are we to deprive our citizens of this level of care, education or business opportunity, or shall we keep sending them abroad to get treatment and find jobs because the UK is becoming ever more backward, and cannot use today's technology today, or even accept that for other countries HD telehealth and FTTH opportunities are normal?

Somerset said...

What bandwidth is needed for telehealth and education applications?

Somerset said...

How are other countries funding FTTP, particularly in urban areas?

Somerset said...

If various people dropped the 'we must have fibre' stance and actually campaigned for a 10M or more USC we might see progress.

Strange that video conferencing has been running for 20 years with 128k ISDN links and now needs 100M...

As an example from a supplier -
Up to 20 simultaneous Full HD (180p30) 1.7Mbps call.

Another - See FULL HD resolution using as little as 3 Mbp

So everybody - get the facts right!