As the “Digital Britain” report continues to dominate the UK broadband sector headlines the government’s detailed plans for the future of UK broadband have hit something of a snag. The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has issued a report entitled “Mind the Gap – Digital England, a rural perspective” which has casts severe doubt on the government’s target of providing broadband speeds in the region of 2 Mb per second in the most rural parts of the UK.
Aside from the fact that the number of rural telephone exchanges is significantly lower than those in inner cities, it is the distance to the end user which is causing most concern. We have seen the likes of mobile broadband and satellite broadband discussed in the past but at this moment in time the UK authorities seem adamant that landline-based broadband services should be the first port of call. Whether the target of 2 Mb per second broadband connections is achievable in the short to medium term is very much open to debate.
The UK government has committed itself to spending hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer’s money on the UK National broadband network but interestingly talk of a “broadband tax” to fund this initiative is gathering pace. But is it really right for taxpayers to pay yet again for a National broadband network which will benefit the UK economy and ultimately the UK government via tax income?