Streamyx

The Government are planning to review the broadband speed in the UK after it was suggested that they should pay for installing new infrastructure into companies. The reason for this review, which is to be carried out by the former chief executive of Cable and Wireless, Francesco Caio, is so that the Government can clearly understand how they can update the quality of the broadband that the UK is currently using.

The need for a better and faster broadband system is due to the fact that many more companies and consumers are now using the internet and therefore, high-capacity cables are called for. France and Germany are at present trialling a faster broadband connection that offers a broadband speed that puts the UK's connection speed to shame.

The rise in the number of consumers wanting faster broadband is due to the increase in people downloading music and films. The current infrastructure cannot cope with this demand and as a result, people now want and require a faster connection that our European neighbours have. The Government have said that they endeavour to adopt new technologies to ensure that the UK does not get left behind in the technological race.

It was April of last year when the Broadband Stakeholder Group advised that the Government had just two years in which to find ways of increasing their investment in next generation of broadband speeds and connections.

However, installing the new cables needed for this is very expensive, in fact, it has been estimated by Enders Analysis that it could cost 1.1 bn in order to offer the faster service to 5.6m BT customers.

As well as money, another problem that stands in the way of obtaining a faster broadband speed is that some people will not see the need for a much faster connection and may therefore not be willing to pay for the service.

Companies and consumers use the internet more and therefore need a faster broadband connection.

France and Germany are already trialling a faster broadband connection.

One possible problem may be that some people will not see the need for an even faster broadband connection.

Broadband users are being advised to be more cautious when they are online. This is due to phishing scams whereby phishers try to scam people into providing their financial information by posing as a trustworthy organisation such as a bank.

The UK's payments industry, Apacs, have warned that they believe there has been a 200 per cent increase in the number of reported cases of phishing incidences in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period last year.

Broadband users are being advised to look out for emails that appear to be from their bank asking for private financial information.

Apacs have said that people need to remember that banks would not send emails asking you to disclose private financial information such as your pin number, login details or complete passwords. Therefore, if you were to receive an email asking you to do this, it will be a phishing attempt and you should ignore it.

Although there are many people who do take appropriate measures in an attempt to avoid phishing risks, Apacs believes that there are around one in five broadband users who do not take these measures and will increase the risk against them by opening suspicious emails for example.

The security action group Anti-Phishing Working Group suggest that people should be suspicious of all such emails, regardless of whether they are addressed personally to them or not.

A company called Vonage provide a secure way to use the internet using broadband phone services. They have a V-Plan 2 which offers an international cheap broadband tariff.

Broadband users are being advised to look out for emails that appear to be from their bank asking for private financial information.

One in five broadband users is believed not to take measures to protect themselves against phishing.

With the V-Plan 2, there is an international cheap broadband tariff.