Speaking at the recent Communication Management Association (CMA) conference in London, Ofcoms chairman, Lord Currie, spoke briefly about the direction of its forthcoming broadband review. The regulator is hoping to see 10Mbps services become common place:

He said he supported the conclusions of the Trade and Industry Committee, which last week published a report criticising the slow pace of broadband development.

And he warned of the danger of becoming "fixated on [ADSL] roll-out" and paying scant regard to other broadband technologies, such as wireless options, which should come onto the market this year.

But he added: "We have got to get to 10Mbps, where it becomes like electricity to the home."

Interestingly the wireless assertion seems a little off since the technology has been around in ISP form for several years. Perhaps they mean a specific spectrum?

With even higher speed technologies (ADSL2, PLC 20Mbps etc.) expected to creep in during 2004, this will be an interesting year for broadband. More @ VNUNet.