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Broadband maintenance change could benefit UK users
Tuesday 2nd March 2010, by Daniel King
UK broadband users will enjoy a superior service in the event of their connection suffering from faults in the future, if a new government bill is passed.
The House of Lords is pushing for legislation to be approved which would see Ofcom become responsible for dealing with complaints, faults and requests relating to broadband internet.
Ministers believe the Digital Economy Bill will end the common scenario of buck-passing, with internet service providers and BT often leaving the repair of faults up to each other.
Under the new rules, "responsibility for every complaint or request [lies] with either the broadband service provider or the owner of the communication cable".
The bill will also feature sections which prohibit the type of repair work on broadband lines which can have a negative impact by slowing connection speeds.
Explaining the current situation, Lord Erroll says: "There are four service entities involved and there may be more. There are Chinese walls between these, and there is a lot of buck-passing."
Lord Erroll went on to say that he believes BT's deficit in areas such as pensions is having an effect on the amount of cash it can dedicate to the maintenance of broadband lines.
Awarding the responsibility to Ofcom may therefore result in more effective and regular work being carried out.
The Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development recently announced that the UK finished 21st out of 30 countries in its table of broadband speeds.
Japan and Korea took the top spots due to their vast supply of fibre cables, leaving the UK lagging behind.
Categories: Broadband
