Improving broadband speeds will advance technology

Improving broadband speeds will lead to advances in other types of technological innovation, say industry experts.

The Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA), the UK's voluntary trade association for providers of internet services, has predicted that in 2008 more TV will be delivered over the internet and business-orientated technologies will become more commonplace in the home.

A spokesperson for the ISPA said: "Broadband has made web technologies – such as streaming media, telephone over the internet, downloading movies and music and also consuming movies and music – [possible].

"There are developments going on all the time to improve connectivity, and that has a consequence of driving technological innovation on the content and applications side. So, there's potential to see more remote working; there's a variety of different things that can happen."

He added that it is likely technologies such as video conferencing will come into the home so that "people around the world can potentially get together virtually for Christmas".

Earlier this year uSwitch predicted that in the UK 21 million households are likely to have an internet connection in 2010 and just one million of these connections will be dial-up.