The BBC has reported that homes and businesses will have a legal right to demand faster broadband speed by 2020.

This might be good for the likes of those who live at this rural spot - I recently quoted them for a EAD circuit to rescue them from the paltry 0.3 Mbps connection they can get on copper. The Excess Construction Costs were staggeringly high. 

Whilst providing the geographically challenged speeds of 10 Mbps sounds great; speed and the need for speed will continue to outpace their requirement. Streaming 4K Ultra High Definition, for example, requires about 25 Mbps speeds and although it is relatively new right now, it will be the norm in the coming years and 10 Mbps will not suffice. 

We are seeing this in the EAD circuits we are delivering to customers at 2 Circles. There is already a fierce trend building on bearer circuits, where we no longer sell 10Mb bearers as they are too limiting. The amount of 100Mb bearers is in sharp decline as businesses conclude that within a mere 36 months they might require greater. 1Gb bearers are becoming the norm, where some customers have ordered and installed (subject to the usual postcode lottery) a 1Gb circuit running at the full 1 Gbps speed for less than £500 per month. 2017 has also seen our first internet facing 10Gb bearer order and we have more in quote stage right now.

It’s difficult to see how 10 Mbps speeds in 2020 is going to make any real difference to 0.3 Mbps today for the UK Small Business. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?