Research Reveals a ‘No Confidence’ Vote in Government’s Superfast Broadband Pledge
A poll conducted by Broadband Expert has revealed that just 5% of Britons believe the UK will have “the best superfast broadband network in Europe”, as pledged by the current Government.
654 people took part in an online survey, which provided the following results:
42% said they didn’t believe Britain would have the infrastructure in place to support superfast broadband in 2015
• 26% thought the claim was just political spin
• 15% expected the initiative to fail due to lack of funding
• 12% thought the scheme would fail due to other reasons
• 5% believed Britain will have the best broadband in Europe by 2015
The news comes after Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt put the pledge for superfast broadband back to 2015 from the 2012 target set by the former Government.
Mr Hunt has suggested using legislation to make Internet Service Providers open up their broadband infrastructure and share their broadband networks in a bid to meet the 2015 target.
Rob Webber, commercial director at Broadband Expert, thinks this course of action is essential if Britain is to meet the 2015 deadline: “We think that forcing the networks to open up their infrastructure is the only way Britain will have the best broadband network in Europe given the timeframe and the modest £300m budget the government has set aside for the scheme.”
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The UK government has not set aside £300m for superfast broadband. The post spending review budget managed by BDUK is £530m. Still not enough, but significantly more that what is stated here.
“…£530 million will be invested over the Spending Review period to support the UK’s broadband network and to incentivise the roll out of superfast broadband in areas that the private sector would not otherwise reach… The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) settlement includes…investing £530 million over the Spending Review period including £300 million from the TV licence fee, to improve the UK’s broadband network… benefiting around 2 million households, including in some of the most remote areas of the UK. As part of this investment, the Government will also pursue superfast broadband pilot projects in North Yorkshire, Cumbria, Herefordshire, and the Highlands and Islands.”
The government, not delivring on targets, what a shock! I for one have no faith our broadbandf network will be the best in Europe by 2015!