Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw reconfirmed the government's
commitment to high-speed broadband as he outlined the key points in
theDigital Britain reportto the House of
Commons.
The global technological revolution means that making the right
decisions now will enable the UK and its industries to prosper, he
said in a statement to the House. "This report spells out how we
can make the most of the opportunities today and in the years to
come."
The government will create a public fund to pay for its
commitment to universal access to broadband services, Bradshaw
revealed, as he outlined the main points of communications minister
Stephen Carter's report.
The independent national fund will come from a levy on
fixed-line phone services and will include funds left over from
meeting the costs of the digital TV switchover, he said.
The government will release high-quality spectrum for the
creation of next-generation mobile networks, he said.
"This will ensure the UK is among the earliest countries to
deploy these networks and that UK consumers will continue to enjoy
the benefits of vigorous competition," Bradshaw said.
And,
as revealed in Computer Weekly, the government has appointed
digital entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox as a digital inclusion
champion in an attempt to encourage the take-up of digital
technology across the UK. The government's £300m home access scheme
will provide funds to give children access to computers and the
internet.
Developing legal download markets will best serve consumers and
creative industries, said Bradshaw, but piracy for gain is theft,
and government will legislate to curb unlawful peer-to-peer file
sharing.
Ofcom is to be given the obligation to issue notices to
copyright infringers and to relesase the identities of serious
infringers to allow rights holders to take legal action. ISPs will
restrict the bandwidth of serial infringers if other measures prove
insufficient.
The report outlines plans to make all radio services digital by
2012 and to develop public services to encourage people to use
broadband.
"The digital revolution has huge potential to improve the
services of government and public bodies and reduce costs,"
Bradshaw said.
The report sets out how public services will be delivered online
to make them quicker and more responsive to the public while saving
money.
The Digital Britain report will help accelerate Britain's
recovery from the biggest economic shock the world has seen since
the Second World War, said Brashaw.
"It is an essential part of our industrial strategy, it will be
key to our economic growth, social cohesion and wellbeing as a
nation and I commend it to the House," he said.