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Broadband Access
UK launches broadband stimulus package
Digital Britain plan is well intentioned, but lacks specifics
by Kendrick Struthers-Watson
Plans to boost the United Kingdom's digital and communications industries, which contribute more than £50 billion (US$71.6 billion) a year to the economy, were outlined Thursday by Lord Carter, the minister for communications, technology and broadcasting. The interim Digital Britain report will examine a number of different areas, including broadband development, public service broadcasting and digital radio.
Drawing on expertise from across government, regulators and industry, Lord Carter’s report will be a comprehensive analysis of the UK’s digital economy. At its core is the ambition to accelerate the rate of growth and cement the UK’s position as a world leader in the knowledge and learning economy. It is thought the report may set minimum broadband speeds and push for universal broadband coverage by 2012.
According to Oliver Johnson of analyst firm Point Topic, the UK currently has 59.5 percent broadband penetration of households; if dial-up is included, this would be 63.3 percent. In a statement to Parliament today, culture secretary Andy Burnham said that Britain led the world in content creation. Speaking of the findings of the Digital Britain report he said that it would help the UK to secure a competitive low carbon economy in the next five to 10 years.
The report also looked at Internet piracy. The minister said the government would look at setting up a new digital rights agency and wanted to introduce legislation requiring Internet service providers (ISPs) to notify illegal file-sharers about their activity. Lord Carter’s report also called for everyone in the UK to get access to a broadband speed of at least 2 Mbps. Currently, telecom companies are only obliged to provide lines that can handle 28.8 Kbps; at 2 Mbps, lines will be capable of handling much more video and sites that offer much greater interactivity.
By the time of the final report, expected springtime this year, the government will know whether Internet service providers can be relied upon to build next generation networks themselves or if government help will be needed. The minister also said he wanted to ensure that public services online were accessible to the widest possible range of people and wanted to “give parents the information and tools to protect children from inappropriate content.”
Speaking at the New Local Government Network in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the digital economy would play a crucial part in lofting Britain out of recession.
“It affects every community in our country who are looking for the best digital infrastructure, access to broadband, that we can offer them. We know that every aspect of our lives in communities; every school, every hospital, every workplace and even every home, will be dependent on the service the digital network provides.”
The report also covered making more spectrum available for NGMN networks (Next Generation Mobile Networks). The government supports the Ofcom (Office of Communications) proposals on the release of the so-called 3G expansion band at 2.6 GHz where Ofcom would play a key role in a pan-European alignment of the Digital Dividend Review Spectrum (channel 61-69 band) being released by progressive switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting, pioneered in the UK. This will free up radio spectrum particularly valuable for NGMN services.
Jim Hyde, managing director of T-Mobile UK, said, "We welcome this insightful report, which identifies the issues we all need to address to make Britain a winner in the digital world. It clearly understands the contribution mobile has already made and the even more exciting potential mobile broadband offers. It also puts its finger on a key current roadblock; the inability to use all existing mobile spectrum for 3G and to do so on an equitable, competitive basis. We have long argued for this. It is important economically and socially. It would enable the more rapid achievement of the widest high speed mobile broadband coverage and the much more efficient use of the industry's spectrum.”
Not everyone felt the proposed legislation was adequate, however.
Richard Heap, head of telecoms at BDO Stoy Hayward, was less enthusiastic about proposed speeds. “We were very surprised that the government is only advocating a broadband network speed of 2 Mbps by 2012. Given that a number of other ISPs offer speeds of up to 50 Mbps, this is akin to a snail’s pace and lacks ambition.
“In any case, this nonsensical speed risks being outdated before it is even implemented as speeds of 50 Mbps will be the norm by 2012,” said Heap. “The 2 Mbps connection will allow operators to ‘patch’ existing networks and it avoids creating a ‘future proof’ broadband for Britain. If Britain wants to be seen as a leader in the digital age it will have to come up with something more futuristic than this.”
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