Gordon Brown defends superfast broadband roll-out
Gordon Brown claims superfast broadband will save the government billions of pounds and revolutionise the way people access public services.
In a speech, the prime minister sought to defend the proposals to provide high-speed internet connectivity of 100 megabits per second or more by using money from a 50p a month landline tax and surplus cash from the BBC licence fee.
He said the alternative, an average of 4Mbps in the UK, would “create two nations: one digitally privileged, one digitally deprived”.
In terms of funding the project, which will require fibre-optic cable to be installed over large distances, Brown said: “We can allow unbridled market forces to provide a solution on its own terms and according to its own timetable as others would do. The result would be superfast broadband coverage determined not even by need or social justice, or by the national interest but by profitability alone. This would open a lasting, pervasive and damaging new digital divide.
“We say that Britain’s digital future must be a future for all, not just for some. But if every household is to benefit, then it is fair that every household contributes to meeting this goal.”
“Superfast broadband is the electricity of the digital age. And I believe it must be for all – not just for some,” Brown added.
The prime minister has also promised that the digital economy could create as many as 250,000 skilled jobs by 2020.
Labour’s superfast broadband proposals have been criticised by the Conservative party, who promise to abolish the 50p a month levy funding plan if they get in.
Instead, the Tories would like to see phone companies building 100Mbps systems through competition. However, independent analysis suggests that the Conservative plans would mean that their core vote in rural constituencies would be the last to benefit from such systems, if they reach them at all.
The business select committee has also scrutinised the government’s plans, saying the £6-a-year tax was both “regressive and poorly targeted” and would mean that lower-income households will be paying for a service that “only a minority will enjoy”.
The committee condemned plans to spend so much upgrading broadband services in the UK when public money is so tight.
In a report, the committee said: “Early government intervention runs a significant risk of distorting the market and will not allow time for technological solutions to extend the market’s reach across the country. Furthermore there is little evidence to suggest a pent-up demand for this enhanced service, with customers currently unwilling to pay the premium for such services.
“In times of great stringency in public expenditure digital inclusion, not next generation access, should be the priority for expenditure. The market can be helped to deliver greater levels of high speed access without significant increases in public expenditure,”
However, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills defended Brown’s view: “Next generation broadband is vital to the UK’s growth and we want everyone to access the huge social, economic and health benefits it offers.”
The BIS claims that only 70% of the country will gain access to super-fast broadband without public intervention. “The 50p duty we have proposed is modest, fair and affordable and is the best way to drive further investment in our networks.”