Good Week Bad Week 19 December 2008

It’s been a Good Week for...

Broadband news coverage – Reporting of one of the most dramatic good news stories of the week was significantly enhanced by broadband. As a US Airways plane crash-landed into New York’s Hudson River, it was only a matter of minutes before eye witnesses were posting images and reports over broadband on microblogging sites such as twitter. All passengers, remarkably, survived.

Digital music industry – A hefty 95% of broadband music downloads are still illegal, but the digital music industry seems to be flying in the face of adversity. Profits in the sector are up - a rather impressive 25% - for 2008. The music piracy issue is one which the government, broadband providers and the British Music Industry has been ruminating over for some time now. Until a solution is found, music piracy on broadband lives on.

Carphone Warehouse customers – Broadband and phone users could benefit from a competitive New Year package from the Carphone Warehouse. The TalkTalk deal offers broadband up to 8Mbps with 40GB of download limit and a free router. Free evening and weekend calls are also included until 2010. The 18-month deal costs £10.50 per month initially, rising to £16.99 after 12 months.

It’s been a Bad Week for...

Broadband kids – Children’s lives are being branded ‘toxic’. Childhood, it seems, is no longer about climbing trees and building dens, but more about logging onto broadband - be it over a bowl of Coco Pops or tucked up in bed. Today’s broadband kids are also becoming less interested in reading for pleasure, as twittering takes over.

Broadband market – It was only a matter of time before the broadband sector was knocked sideways by the economic downturn. Unfortunately, the latest data from PointTopic confirms this. The study reveals the UK added only 200,000 broadband lines in the last quarter of 2008 - less than half the predicated forecast for the period.

The Army – While the row over Prince Harry and his alleged ‘racist’ comments has yet to go cold, fresh reports of racial tension have emerged in the Army. The Guardian discovered several ‘extreme and offensive’ comments on the broadband networking site posted by broadband users claiming to be serving soldiers. The Ministry Of Defence has now launched an inquiry.