Section A Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.
More than two million people in Europe now have fibre broadband direct to
their home, suggests a survey. The latest figures on superfast
broadband delivered by fibre to the home (FTITI) shows 18% growth over the last
survey compiled in late 2008. The continued growth suggests that the global
economic downturn has not hit plans to build infrastructure (基础设施)
of fibre. Sweden tops the list of nations rolling out the technology, with 10.9%
of its broadband customers using fibre. Karel Helsen, president
of Europe’s Fibre-To-The-Home Council, said the growth matched predictions that
were revised when the credit crunch (信用紧缩) started to make itself felt.
"The numbers in 2009 are in line with the latest forecasts," said Mr.
Helsen. By 2012, the FITH Council expects that 13 million people
across 35 European nations will have their broadband delivered by fibre. Such
services would start at speeds of 100 megabits persecond (mbps), said
Mr.Helsen. Around Europe more than 233 projects were underway to
lay the fibres that would connect homes or buildings to the net, said
Mr.Helsen.Many of those, he said, were being operated by local governments or
smaller net firms. Local governments were interested in FTFH because of the
economic and social benefits it brought in its wake. The low delay inherent in
high-speed fibre networks made possible novel uses of broadband, he
said. "No delay is very important," he said, "specifically if
you talk about applications that are time dependent such as personal
communications, conference calls or video calls where delays cause a lot of
interference." While early PITH services were concentrated in
cities, said Mr. Helsen, many more were reaching out to rural areas for e-health
and e-learning projects. Separate studies show that an FTI’H
infrastructure can have a direct impact on local economic output, said
Mr.Helsen. The UK, France and Germany have yet to break into the
list of top ten PITH nations. No delay is especially important for ______ applications.