Universal broadband plans need to come in sooner states industry group

Officials from part of the Chartered Institute of IT, the CMA, have said that universal broadband access needs to be provided to the UK far more quickly than planned to help the online economy to flourish.

These days, more and more companies have realised the benefits of using the Internet to conduct business, market their services and products, and operate on a day to day basis. Likewise, the great choice of products and services that have become available online as a result of this means that a rising number of consumers are now making their purchases online, allowing the online economy to flourish.

However, officials from the CMA, which forms part of the Chartered Institute of IT, have said that the government plans to roll out universal broadband need to be sped up as otherwise this could hamper the success of the online economy. Whilst both major political parties, the Labour government and the Tory Party, have put forward plans officials believe that the implementation of the plans will be too slow.

One CMA official said: “Talking about £150-200m of investment a year rolling out broadband to the unserved areas is not going to create the flourishing online economy which we at CMA know is the economic future of the UK. Lots of councils and most Government services are already going down the online route – for example via the G-cloud – and there are benefits in terms of improving services that people can expect, and it can also help to cut costs. For businesses, trading online means attracting customers from anywhere in the world, leading to massive opportunities for UK enterprises.”

She added: “However, success stories are not currently the norm, and CMA believes that it is necessary to stimulate the environment a long time before 2017. The current drip-drip approach is not working. As soon as we build the road, the business will surely come.”

Source – IT Wales