Government reveals rural broadband plans
The coalition government has announced plans to test superfast broadband services in rural areas, with the aim of tackling the “digital divide” in Britain.
Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, criticised the previous Labour government’s commitment to provide a minimum universal broadband speed of 2Mbps as “pitifully unambitious”. He said his goal was to provide Britain with the best high-speed broadband network in Europe, adding it was a “scandal” that almost three million households cannot access speeds of 2Mbps.
Mr Hunt said the biggest cost involved in providing new fibre optic networks is digging up the roads, but under the new plans, utility companies could be forced to open up their ducts to fibre-optic cabling. He added: “Wherever I go in the country, businesses tell me that access to fast, reliable broadband is increasingly essential. The action plan I have set out today will help create a broadband infrastructure for our country that meets the needs of all its citizens and businesses, and that will stand comparison with anywhere in the world.”
Further details of the plans will be announced at an industry event in July and will be co-ordinated by Broadband Delivery UK, an organisation previously set up by the Labour government. Labour’s plan to impose a 50p a month broadband tax was scrapped shortly before the general election. The new coalition government recently said it may use some of the BBC license fee to fund part of the roll-out of high-speed broadband services.
Source: IMRG