Mandelson hints at government funding for next-gen broadband

Trade secretary Peter Mandelson has hinted that the government could be ready to fund the implementation of UK-wide next-generation broadband.

Speaking at the Digital Britain summit held in London last Friday, Mandelson said that government money could be used to improve the current situation where 12.5 million homes in the UK still have no access to broadband networks.

He said: “The market unaided will provide some of the next-generation infrastructure the UK needs but government cannot be indifferent to the wider national needs.”

Although he made clear that the government had not yet decided whether direct intervention was the correct course of action, he did not rule it out.

“I am a public investor when it is appropriate,” he said, adding that he had no intention of “replacing market forces or displacing the private sector”.

He added that the government needed to “support, encourage, aid, abet, even pump prime”.

The comments followed prime minister Gordon Brown’s speech earlier in the day backing broadband for all (see Gordon Brown calls for broadband for all).