Government commits to universal broadband, but loses 2012 deadline

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that "a paltry 2 Mbps" was the least that UK householders should expect but did not commit to a timetable for its provision.

Like the last Labour Government, he said that network construction would be funded in part by BBC licence fee money previously earmarked for the digital television switchover but not now needed for that.

"In this country the legacy was … a commitment to a paltry 2 Mpbs universal connection. Necessary, of course, but pitifully unambitious compared to a Korean goal 500 times faster," he said in a speech this week. "It is a scandal that nearly 3 million households in this country still cannot access 2 Mbps broadband speeds, and less than 1% of the country is able to access the internet using modern fibre optic technology – compared to an OECD average of around 10%."

"The government supports the commitment to ensure a universal service level of 2Mbps as the very minimum that should be available. We will use a proportion of the underspend on digital switchover to fund this," he said.

Hunt also said that househoolds should have access to superfast broadband networks, but that it was still unclear how this could be affordably provided.

The previous Government abandoned plans to charge an extra 50 pence a month on phone lines to subsidise the third of the country which it estimated would not be provided with superfast lines by the open market.

Hunt said that he would try three different ways of reaching the kinds of rural households that commercial providers are unlikely to supply with superfast connections in order to see which worked and which didn't.

"I am announcing 3 market testing projects that will bring superfast broadband to rural and hard-to-reach areas," he said. "These are projects that will not only benefit those living in these areas, but that will provide us with vital information about how we can best target government intervention and make next generation broadband viable in even the most challenging areas."

"Broadband Delivery UK – the organisation which will be the delivery vehicle for these policies and accountable to me – will hold an industry event on 15th July to provide further details, and to describe how the procurement of these testing projects will be achieved," said Hunt.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom recently announced plans to force BT to share more of its under-street cabling ducts and telegraph poles with other providers to open up competition to areas without building new infrastructure.

The Government signalled its willingness to force other network-owners to share their infrastructure too.

"If legislation is necessary to require other infrastructure providers to open up their assets as well, then – as announced in the Queen’s speech – I am ready to bring it to the House as soon as parliamentary time can be found," said Hunt.

Hunt said that he would abandon the publicly funded regional news pilots set to take place around the country and use that money to fund the three superfast broadband experiments. He said he had asked an investment banker to produce a report on whether or not local news is commercially viable in the absence of the planned subsidies.

"Based on his findings, I will be publishing a full, local media action plan in the autumn," said Hunt.