OFCOM, the UK’s independent communication regulator, has allowed the British Telecommunications group to expand and invest in a superfast broadband network with few conditions. Britain’s current average speed is "up to 4 Mb/s"; the new superfast network should range from (up to) 40-60 Mb/s from cabinets located in each street, to (up to) 100 Mb/s from direct fibre optics linked to 1 million homes by 2012.

The move has been welcomed by the giant, one of the few networks able to invest the large sums needed to begin this incredible project. Britain had been criticized for falling behind other countries in the worldwide internet speed race, and comes after Virgin Media’s plans to supply half the population with speeds of up to 50 Mb/s by mid-2009. It also comes as DIY superfast internet becomes a reality, with many areas not prepared to wait as they have for the current broadband network; one of the smallest DIY networks will be in the tiny hamlet of Bradley in Hampshire, connecting just 30 homes.

The new network will allow for the next generation of websites, and include impressive visual effects and much more scope for automatic video streaming. Speedy full length movie streaming was recently chosen as the most desired feature in a poll on the future of the internet and browsers. These new speeds will be welcomed by the booming internet advertising industry, which has an estimated growth of a staggering £10.8 billion by 2012.

Meanwhile, Africa appears to be skipping the landline entirely, found to be the largest growing mobile using population. A recent study has shown extraordinary growth worldwide since 2002, with over 4,100,000,000 registered memberships, well over half of the current world population. The study, conducted by the International Telecommunications Union, found that mobile use in Africa has grown from 2% to 28% (more than 1 in 4) since 2000. It was also found that nearly a quarter of the world’s population has internet access.

With over half the world connected by mobiles, but sales of top models falling with the economic downturn, companies like Nokia, Sony, and Samsung are busy filing patents for release when the market picks up. New technologies are emerging ready to be combined with current features like video cameras, motion sensors for tilting screens, and full internet access. The most promising to be brought to standard phones include flexible screens, allowing for wrist-band like mobiles and DVD quality projectors capable of creating an A4 sized picture. Whether these features will prove to be popular or unused will not be seen until they are widely available and programmes are written or adapted to make use of them.

Another recent development has been the decision by the mobile hardware oligopoly to start producing universal chargers. It is being declared as a decision to reduce hassle with format changes and an investment in a greener mobile hardware industry, but in reality is based on the fact that most future phones, even low spec models, will be USB compatible and this move would reduce production costs.

Seems the future of both broadband and mobile technology may be in the hand of the consumer (literally).