Expert offers solution to broadband crunch

An expert has been discussing a phenomenon running in parallel with the credit crunch - a so-called "broadband crunch".

Kenny Kamal, a British Computer Society contributor and chief technology officer of MLL Telecom, writes on vnunet.com that the increasing popularity of services like the BBC iPlayer has cause network traffic to increase dramatically, putting pressure on broadband architecture.

He also cites a recent study which found that customers are getting less than half of their ISP's advertised download speeds, and this is likely to get worse.

However, he believes there is a way out of the crunch - the use of wireless.

"Backhaul - which sits between the access points and the operator's core networks - must be increased to fulfil broadband requirements," he writes.

"This can be achieved by installing managed wireless networks, which incorporate application control.

"Wireless services do not suffer the same problems as laying fibre or copper can at present - they can be rolled out faster and redeployed easily as traffic patterns change."

It seems Mr Kamal is not alone in seeing the benefits of wireless, after a statement by the GSM Association that global wireless broadband users nearly quadrupled in a year, with subscriptions topping 50 million.