Broadband rising up political agenda
On day one of Labour’s conference, prime minister Gordon Brown’s main speech included a money-backed promise of home internet access for every school child, with vouchers worth up to £700 for each low income household.
Both conferences have seen fringe events debating the value to Britain’s economy of digital technology, including ultrafast broadband.
But without a government-level commitment to a UK-wide broadband network, children (and local businesses) in many rural areas will face the continued disadvantage of a slow and unreliable connection or none at all.
Bare shelves tactic
Responding to Brown’s Philip Parkin, general secretary of Voice, the union representing teachers, childcare and support staff, told the Guardian: ‘Distributing vouchers won't help if your village doesn't have broadband.’
Speaking to liveworkhomes, Edd Dawson of independent broadband experts broadband.co.uk, told ‘There is currently no unified broadband strategy for the development and rollout of superfast broadband in the UK. It means the digital divide between town and country is likely to grow ever wider if left to market forces.’
Early beneficiaries of BT’s ultra-high speed fibre optic cable roll-out, announced in July, are likely to be residents of the east London Olympiad zone and Ebbsfleet, in the developing Thames Gateway.
The work will cost BT an estimated £1.5bn and the company claims up to 10 million households in both rural and urban areas will benefit by 2012. But it adds: ‘Deployment will depend on the engagement of government and regional and local authorities’.
The sticking point is cost, with both network utilities and internet service providers prioritising parts of the country where customer numbers are concentrated.
The government-backed Broadband Stakeholder Group has estimated the cost of taking fibre-based broadband to every UK home to be as much as £28.8bn. A less eye-watering option, it suggests would be taking fibre to street-level cabinets – at £5.1bn.
In a September 2008 report for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform former Cable & Wireless boss Francesco Caio said the telecoms industry, not government, should stump up the cash.
The government, he said, could reduce the price significantly by ensuring a coordinated installation with the major utilities and relaxing rules on overhead wires.
Caio’s report also recommends a variety of networking methods, deploying a mix of fibre and wireless technologies appropriate to different locations. And it calls for local innovation involving the public and private sectors and local communities.
Broadband options
What sort of broadband service are you getting now, and could you secure a better deal? See our update on internet options from broadband.co.uk
