The Lounge

Being originally from the UK, I always looked across the pond enviously at my American counterparts when it came to Internet access and services. While us Brits languished in dial-up hell, thanks to a near-monopoly of the telecommunications industry by my old employer British Telecom, my online friends in the US and Canada were enjoying the wonders of broadband. It was like I was stuck with Jon Voight while everyone else was enjoying Angelina Jolie...

Of course, that has changed in recent years, with the UK now taking up broadband in their droves (although they're still quite a bit behind some of their European neighbours). And when I moved to Canada in 2006, it was like entering a new world altogether - believe me, when you can download a movie, run a bunch of programs and surf 17 different sites at the same time, it makes a difference!

Yet looking at figures released for 2007 concerning the state of broadband, it seems we may be reaching a plateau for the service. According to Point Topic, the leading web source for DSL and broadband information, there were 4.72% more broadband subscribers during the last quarter of 2007. Although this is still an increase, it's actually down on the previous quarter's figure of 5.16%. 

This decrease in numbers is obviously a territorial issue - the North American market continued to grow, albeit slightly, and the Western European market found itself with 3.5 million new users in the same period. So where's the problem? It's probably a mix of my old haunting ground the UK, and the upsurge in new technology like Wi-Fi.

With certain countries (like the UK) still with companies that have a Draconian hold over the communication industry, broadband is still fairly expensive a service to have. It's also not up to speed with the rest of the world where broadband has been running for much longer, so there are more technical issues still to be resolved in certain countries.

Combine that with the ease of use that Wi-Fi allows, and you can see why broadband is taking a hit at the moment. After all, if I can go to Starbucks with my laptop, order a coffee and get online using their server and my Wi-Fi connection - without the need for a cable leading to my USB port - it's a no-brainer. And when companies like Nintendo, who have traditionally been against entering the online arena, even put Wi-Fi in something as simple as the Nintendo DS hand-held games console, it's proof of how easy the service is. So what next for broadband?

Thankfully for both users and providers, there's a lot of mileage left in the service yet. Microsoft's Xbox platform uses broadband for their hugely successful Live service, and cable companies still use it for streaming movies to their customers. And then you have Asia...

The huge growth in online gaming in South and South East Asia has revitalized the industry. Gamers from that continent are hooked on massive online games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft. Because of the popularity of these games, and the sheer numbers of users in the 18-34 demographic, South Asia and South East Asia accounted for 3.9 million new users. China alone accounted for 90% of these figures.

So although it seems that broadband may have hit a peak in the West, at least for some areas, there still seems to be life in the old dog yet. With the providers looking to improve services all the time, and video gamers still looking to the service to satisfy their needs, we should still be seeing broadband for a little longer. Now where's my Live headset?