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Universal ADSL "no threat to wireless broadband" - Locustworld

BT has removed the distance limit on ADSL: you can get broadband wherever you live. Disaster for those who made a living on the fringes of ADSL, by providing wireless broadband? "No, it makes wireless better."

The marketing boss of the company which gave us the wireless Mesh as a way of taking the internet to remote villages, Locustworld, said: ""Getting more broadband out there is great, whether it is by wire or wireless. Lots of mesh operators are really excited about getting DSL in to replace their satellites. Faster. Cheaper. Less Latency. More flexibility."

That was Richard Lander. I asked: "But if you can get ADSL, why would you want to go wireless?" He said: "The mesh is so efficient that operators can deliver the best value. Some meshes start at £5 a month for a basic subscription. Others are able to get grant aid and offer basic services for free to people on low incomes. There are a lot of meshes, like Feeed in Hastings and Boundless in Lewisham, that are really making a big difference, getting internet access delivered to everyone."

Lander added: "Mesh access is often price competitive with dial up internet, while beating ADSL for performance."

Is this just whistling in the dark? Possibly, not.

The new BT broadband regulations are said to take ADSL from 96% of the population to 99.8% - which adds a lot of people, certainly. But is it as certain to reach the remotest areas? Possibly not: an awful lot of people who have been turned down in the past are actually town, even city dwellers.

Astonishingly few people live in the real countryside, compared with two decades ago, as agribusiness takes over, and agricultural labourers move into the towns, commuting to their offices like everybody else. Those who do, are frequently a very long way from a phone exchange, and the 0.2% of the population might indeed include the remaining country dwellers.

There's also the point that it doesn't require good weather. In the last month's floods, wires have been washed away in many small towns. With them, went communications - except in towns where the mesh provided two-way satellite links to the Internet.

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