Prime Minister makes speech about high speed broadband

In the run up to the general election the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has made a speech promising to ensure that all homes have access to super-fast broadband.

Broadband is a topic that both the Labour party and the Conservatives have been using as part of their strategies to win votes, and both have come up with similar plans to improve access to high speed broadband across the nation. In the run up to the election the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has made a speech where he promised to ensure that all homes had access to super-fast broadband across the UK.

However, Brown’s speech has been met with mixed reactions, with many industry experts claiming that more detail is needed with regards to what is construed as super-fast broadband and how the plans will be implemented. Experts added that plans need to be in place to ensure that the technology will be able to support the applications that people are going to want to use.

With both parties having put plans into place with regards to high speed broadband some officials have said that things are looking positive. Antony Walker, chairman of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, said: “It’s a positive sign that all the major political parties see that next-generation broadband is going to be significant for the UK economy over the next decade. All the parties recognise that for next-generation broadband to be universally available there’s likely to be a need for some level of intervention.”

However, he added that more detail was needed about matters such as timing and how plans would be put into place by the Labour government, stating: “The key thing for us will be developing the right mechanisms for making the most efficient use of that money when you choose to intervene.”

Source – BBC