Online gaming in the UK has grown enormously in popularity in recent times and appears to be in line to be the next big thing in the broadband industry.

Plusnet has introduced a broadband package aimed specifically at gamers as company surveys reveal that around 70,000 of their quarter of a million broadband customers are frequent online gamers.

This package is called Plusnet Broadband Your Way Pro and by reducing latency and ping, has managed to put gaming traffic, together with a facility such as Skype (voice over IP), at the top of your Plusnet connection's priority list.

Lower latency and ping make for much faster and more responsive game-play, an essential requirement for successful online gaming if you are not to get "killed" in the process.

And no more of those frustrating delays waiting... and waiting... only to be shot in the back by a sniper on the other side of the world.

There are now a number of broadband packages suitable for online gaming, and it's possible to compare broadband packages for gaming online.

In fact, gaming via broadband is becoming so widespread that it is highly possible that the dedicated console is on its way out, according to Gerhard Florin, EA game's head of international publishing.

This will substantially affect those who play online through their consoles.

With an increasing number of gamers playing through broadband, Mr Florin deduces that it makes good sense for all consoles to eventually be absorbed into set-top boxes and it won't even be necessary for players to know which gaming platform they are playing on.

These changes will result in the continuing expansion of online worlds and the possibility of billions of pounds being poured into the UK economy.

In fact, it has already been forecast that the market will be worth $13 billion in 2011.

This sounds a bit of a pipe dream until one looks at the broadband scene in South Korea, where just short of half of the population are avid gamers to the extent that three TV channels are dedicated solely to gaming.

Good gamers are as recognisable among the Korean people as football stars are in the UK. Don't know about the WAG's, though!

It is inevitable that gaming popularity will explode when a staggering 90% of the population has access to broadband with average speeds of 50-100 Mb instead of the current paltry 4.6 Mb (on a good day).

With the ever-increasing popularity of gaming in the UK, it is surely only a matter of time before those speeds will be the norm here too - consumers will demand speeds and access at this level and the market will have to respond positively to remain competitive.



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