The Digital Britain report has just been published. We’ve yet to give huge 195-page PDF a proper going over, but we have made note of some of the key points with regard to the future of Broadband Britain.
First thing of note is that, as expected, universal broadband access at speeds of at least 2Mbps downstream will be made available to every UK household by 2012. This will be partially funded by a large £200 cash injection of public money, which will bring broadband access to the “estimated 2.75 million households which cannot currently receive 2Mb/s.”
Again, as expected, this will be achieved by a number of methods, including: “simple and complex in-house wiring solutions, deploying fibre to the street for a selected number of cabinets and a wireless solution using either mobile or satellite. The procurement process will be technology neutral and deliver availability in the most cost effective way possible.”
Funding will also be drawn from a 50 pence monthly charge on every phone and broadband line in order to fund rollout into not spots in mostly rural areas, where speeds of just 1Mbps aren’t even close to achievable.
Whether or not this charge, which works out at an extra £6 per year for each line, will be passed on to the individual consumer remains to be seen. The charge will be collected by broadband providers and will go into a Next Generation Fund.
Regarding P2P and file sharing, the report also stated that providers would be obliged to notify those suspected of illegal downloading “subject to reasonable levels of proof from rights-holders” which in the case of music would presumably be the record companies. One informed of wrong doing, persistent offenders could see themselves issued with a court order.
We’ve included a link to the PDF here for your perusal. Expect more on this later in the week.
Posted by Tom on June 16th 2009 in Next Gen Broadband
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