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UK households 'could be guaranteed fast broadband connection'
Monday 4th January 2010, by Daniel King
Government ministers are considering a law which would put a fast broadband internet connection on a par with water and gas as a must-have for every home.
The proposal has been put forward by council leaders concerned that rural and poorer areas of Britain are being left trailing in the wake of high-powered urban areas in the digital revolution.
Currently the government's aim is to provide all homes with a two megabits per second (Mbps) broadband link by 2012, but local authorities say this is too slow.
If the law guaranteeing fast broadband for every home is passed then the UK would become only the second country to put in place such a rule - following Finland, which promises a one Mbps connection to all of its population.
Keith Mitchell, of the Local Government Association, said: "From doing business, to banking online, accessing information or just downloading music, high-speed broadband would change the lives of people and boost businesses in rural areas across the country."
Mr Mitchell added that reliable and fast broadband had become "essential to everyday life" in the UK.
There are fears that the gap between children in urban and rural areas could grow significantly in years to come if the amount of technology available to city pupils continues to accelerate.
The government's reluctance to agree to the higher-speed connections being installed could be due to the £30 billion it would cost to install fibre-optic lines - vital for top-speed broadband - linking every home.
However, a government spokesperson said: "We don't want rural Britain to miss out on the social and economic benefits of quality broadband."
Last month Ofcom said that Britain's broadband growth rate is second in the world, lagging behind only the Netherlands.
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