The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the government's
advisory group on broadband, says uncertainties surrounding next
generation broadband must be resolved within two years, or UK
competitiveness may suffer and the digital divide will
widen.
The BSG has
published a report on the situation, and says
the UK risks falling behind the likes of Germany and France on data
access speeds if the industry does not act.
The report says the UK's current and planned broadband
infrastructure may not meet the future needs of the most intensive
users, and that it can not be assumed that the market will continue
to deliver the ever-increasing bandwidth that many content
providers and users increasingly expect.
“There seems to be little prospect for the widespread deployment
of next generation broadband in the UK at present, although the
benefits to the economy could be significant,” says the report.
The report makes several recommendations that could change the
situation. It calls on the government to establish a target to
ensure that by 2012, the UK remains in the upper quartile of
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) nations in terms of the quality and reach
of broadband services.
The report also recommends that Ofcom sets out the principles of
its regulatory approach to next generation access within the next
12 months, in order to achieve the right balance of investment
incentives and competition needed for the market to deploy next
generation broadband.
Kip Meek, BSG chairman said, “Broadband is key to the UK economy
and has a critical impact on many people's daily lives. We have a
limited window of opportunity: if steps are not taken now to
prepare for next generation broadband, then we may well find
ourselves in a position where it is too late to catch up.”
Common basic broadband speeds currently available in the UK are
around 8mbps, with the promise of up 24mbps for some users in the
next 18 months or so, using existing copper wiring.
Ofcom is considering whether the industry should look more
closely at faster fibre broadband solutions.
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