Government broadband plans "too little too late"

By Tim Bisley (Fri, 23rd October 2009)

There may be a number of moves in place to make broadband speeds across the country faster, but one expert has suggested that the government is setting its sights far too low.

According to a spokesman for ISPreview, an online resource which provides independent news and reviews on the latest developments in the sector, said for the most part proposals outlined by the Digital Britain report were not enough.

Mark Jackson, editor-in-chief at the publication, said a number of sector commentators were in agreement that the pledge to deliver minimum broadband speeds of two megabits per second (Mbps) to the whole of the UK were "already too little too late".

He went on to say that Digital Britain had also neglected to take into consideration matters of flexibility and affordability that would be "critical" to any implementation strategy.

Mr Jackson suggested investment in the deployment of super-fast broadband would be focused mainly on areas where there is profit to be made if the majority of funding comes from the private sector, as there is more money to be made from larger cities and towns.

"This will, of course, leave remote and rural communities to suffer under the limitations of slower technologies for many years to come, a situation that is unlikely to change without government intervention," he concluded.

His comments follow the publication of a recent study that showed broadband speed was increasingly a factor in the decision making processes of UK homeseekers.

BT is currently enhancing its offerings across Britain and aims to be able to offer services of up to 100 Mbps to around 2.5 million UK homes and businesses.

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