UK to kick start big broadband?

Heard on the BBC this morning that the Great and Good of the UK Broadband industry are starting to discuss how the country will get fast internet. This is a Good Idea, as anyone who has been to countries like Korea can testify. (Addendum - Here's the Text edition)

BT is planning 24 Mbit/sec services, Virgin claims it can squeeze 50 Mbit/sec out of ntl's cables...but we really are looking for a plan to get to 100 Mbit/sec by 2010 to be competitive in a global world.

Ofcom also needs to step up to the plate here....they've allowed a comfortable mobile oligarchy to remain ensconced for a decade, and its probably now also a good time to gently prod the Telco community to get moving again, the crises of the early noughties are over. Its probably in the Telcos best long term interest too.

One of the issues is that the UK's old copper network was never designed with 100 Mbit/sec services in mind....mind you, at the rate of price increase for copper, maybe they could afford a FTTH program paid for by selling the copper to China

Or maybe they'll have to, what with the rag n' bone men already pinching garden gates and church roofing to flog to the Chinese, it could be the midnight copper heists next.....

Update...nope, not yet it would seem....