UK business broadband 'lacks competitiveness'
UK business broadband 'lacks competitiveness'
(Mon, 16th April 2007)
Britain only has two years to roll out major investment in next generation high speed broadband before the economy's international competitiveness will suffer, claims a new report published today.
The country's existing broadband infrastructure and the developments currently being carried out will be too slow to keep pace with British industry by 2012, the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) warns.
Although BT and Virgin have announced they will begin to offer speeds of over 20Mbs by the end of the year, the UK appears to be lagging behind its economic rivals.
France Telecom has begun trials of 100Mbs connection and Germany is also said to be trialling uber high speed connections.
"That progress could come to a shuddering halt," Kip Meek, BSG chairman told the BBC.
He added: "Broadband matters. There's plenty of evidence that broadband itself has had a very beneficial impact on economic performance.
"The move from narrowband to broadband has been very important and our hunch is that the move from low-speed broadband will be just as important."
The report also warns that the government runs the risk of creating a two-tier broadband state if it does not ensure that speeds are upgraded equally around the country.
© Adfero Ltd
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