Broadband for 'virtually' every household in Budget 2009

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Broadband for ‘virtually’ every household in Budget 2009

23 April 2009 21 views No Comment

Almost every computer user in the country will have access to broadband internet by 2012.

Oh if only I believed the article below in the Telegraph but I don’t trust Government to deliver on these type of promises. They sound good at the time sure, but when it comes to spending the money it is always a budget that is easy to cut.

Too little too late as well! IF they were serious about this they could have got on and done it by now!

Extending broadband was “vital to ensure the entire country and economy benefits from the digital age,” Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, said in his Budget speech.

He supported proposals made in January by Lord Carter, the communications minister, for a “Universal Service Obligation” for broadband.

This will mean “virtually everyone” will experience the benefits of broadband at speeds of 2Mb (mega bits) per second, meaning only those in the remotest areas will continue to be left out.

Roughly 1.5 million households are currently unable to get broadband at that speed.

Mr Darling said that the plan would be paid for by the Â£250 million left over from the “digital switchover”, which saw Â£800 million of television licence fee money set aside to help people pay for switching to digital television.

“If necessary, the cost would also be met through additional funding mechanisms,” the Budget report said.

A Â£100 million project to trial “next generation” broadband to 1.2m people in South Yorkshire, was also announced.

The pilot scheme, called Digital Region, will run in Barnsley, Rotherham, Sheffield and Doncaster, but it will not be made available to rural locations.

However, the Yorkshire project highlights the fact that by 2012, speeds of 2Mb per second may be very slow compared to 40Mb per second available under “next generation” broadband.

Matthew Howett, a telecoms analyst at Ovum, said that the Government’s plan was disappointing for this reason.

“It falls far short of everything the market was expecting,” Mr Howett said. “It is nowhere near BT’s commitment to true superfast broadband.

“The Government seems prepared to offer the people of the future the slow broadband available today, rather than invest in faster speeds to actually help the economy.”

Lord Carter told the Telegraph earlier this week that there was “no economic case” for building a “next generation” broadband network in 25-30 per cent of the country.

The Country Land and Business Association said that Lord Carter’s comments showed that “rural Britain is being left behind”.

More details about how the broadband network will be extended are expected in Lord Carter’s final Digital Britain report, which is due to be published in the summer.