Hunt claims superfast broadband rollout is too slow

The Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has recently warned that the superfast broadband rollout in the UK is too slow and could leave the UK lagging behind the rest of Europe.

When it comes to broadband technology and accessibility, the UK has ambitious plans with the government determined to ensure that we have the best broadband network in Europe by 2015. However, the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has recently warned that the superfast broadband rollout in the UK is too slow and could result in the UK being left lagging behind the rest of Europe when it comes to broadband services.

Hunt said that the building of fibre based broadband networks was taking too long and could leave the UK trailing in the same way as it did with railways. He stated: “We need to ensure we do not make the same mistake in broadband that we made in railways – building our high-speed network 45 years after the French and 62 years after the Japanese.”

He said that part of the problem was that disputes between various providers and companies in relation to matters such as the price of renting from BT were taking too long to sort out, stating: “PIA [physical infrastructure access] has to be sorted out – and quickly – in a way that allows fair competition with different providers able to invest in our broadband infrastructure.”

He also referred to the delays with the 4G spectrum, which has been delayed again due to problems caused by disputes amongst providers. He said: “Sweden completed their auction in 2009, Germany last year, Italy is doing theirs this week and France will finish theirs this year. Mobile phone operators must put aside competitive differences and work together in their common – and our national – interest to make this happen.”

Do you think the UK will be left behind with fixed line superfast broadband as well as mobile broadband?

Source – Guardian