Is the Broadband Network of the UK Really Ready for Swine Flu?

The Swine Flu pandemic, caused by the H1N1 virus has created nothing less than a panic situation in the world. The disease that is also called in other words, pig flu, swine fever or swine influenza A, according to a dedicated broadband website – Top 10 Broadband, could bring the digital world into a virtual transfix, if let at large. The website had warned that the broadband infrastructure of the United Kingdom could be devastated by the sudden influx in the number of internet users working from home due to, either an infection or simply a precaution triggered by phobia. Meanwhile, it is also interesting to listen to BT’s claim that it was confident of coping with the extra pressures that might be inflicted on the broadband network of the country by the pandemic that has been, up-to-date accounted for 382 deaths and 89,921 infections all over the world.

Guess something more interesting would be listening to the findings, as well as a few real life experiences of the chief broadband analyst of Broadband Suppliers UK, Chuck Doherty. Can’t blame Doherty for starting with an excoriating invective on the claim of BT that its network was in a strong position to tackle the anticipated demands in home working. Doherty criticises the ISP’s claim directly weighing it against its aged and dilapidated copper lines, which had been the main reason for a levy proposal on the UK commoner, in the Digital Britain report. He questioned, “How can BT bear robustly a surprise influx in the number of users, when it is apparent that you just cant increase the number of copper strands in the line to cope up with an increase in the usage? Doherty further stated that BT could have been genuine in its claim, at least to an extent, if it already had a considerable alternative fibre network, besides a generous mind for charity.

Doherty also lamented on the discriminative, as well as prejudiced approach of certain bodies of certain countries that did not bode well at all for a synergistic global movement against an intimidating disaster looming over. “ A couple of weeks back, I had been to Chennai in India to attend a broadband seminar as an invitee. I found it pretty humiliating (but only until I was told the precise reason behind it), when I was given a piece of paper at the Chennai Airport to fill in against some top priority questions similar to -

• Do you come from a Swine Flu infested country?

• Have you been infected by Swine Flu previously?

• If so for how long were you bed-ridden?

• Do you have any Flu symptom at present?

• Did you have any sickness a month prior to this travel?

• Are you infected with the Swine Flu virus at present?”

Doherty continues, “to me the final question was the most sensible one in the questionnaire. Nevertheless, the act of the airport authority was justified when an airport staff revealed the real thing to me that hitherto, the Indians were subjected to such acid tests in the airports of the West, and it was payback time for them, and is that not an explanation worth giving”. Whatsoever, he hoped that the foresightful ISPs like BT, never resorted to some of these great innovations in disaster management, akin to the glorious questionnaire pioneered by the Chennai Airport authority.

Assuming BT had spoken for the nation’s broadband network as a whole, it would also be fair to lend an ear to the viewpoint of Andrew Ferguson, the editor of Think Broadband, a broadband news website. According to him the issue would be critical for those companies that are required to ensure the robustness of their own computing systems, if people were going to access their office machines remotely, and in great numbers. He stresses that the uses can be marked by both downstream and upstream capacity, which evoke the chances of a peak spike during the evenings, and even at day times He points to this as a factor that makes those providers with little spare capacity struggle, hence giving a widespread impression that the infrastructure was failing.

So coming back to Doherty for the concluding session. “BT has played a blind optimism card, which can only be reasoned by the fact that after the initial burst, the world has somehow managed to put a leash on the extensive spreading of the disease. However, watching the ISP’s determination while declaring that, I felt that they had invented a potential vaccine, or at least had secured a good stock of Tamiflu. In the circumstance, what I find practical is BT distributing the hotcake swine flu masks, even while sincerely hoping that they would refrain from punching their logo on them.”

So far, the pandemic has claimed twenty nine deaths in the United Kingdom, besides infecting around 55,000 persons every week.