Hunt’s “superfast” broadband plan greeted by advertisers

Advertisers today welcomed Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt’s announcement that the UK is pressing ahead to achieve up to 90% coverage for “superfast”” broadband by 2015.

ISBA said it was encouraged by Mr Hunt’s willingness to partner with business to invest in the infrastructure needed to meet this timescale. The Culture Secretary said that the Government’s plans to reach wide-scale coverage would need both taxpayer’s pounds as well as a competitive move by an increasingly digitally-enabled UK business.

The Government plans to have a digital hub in every community in the UK to deliver super fast broadband by 2015.

Launching the strategy document ‘Britain’s Superfast Broadband Future’ at the think tank Reform this morning, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said the Government would invest a further £50m on projects for rural and remote areas to help “make sure the UK has the best broadband network in Europe by 2015”.

Hunt admitted: “Our broadband infrastructure is towards the middle rather than at the head of the pack.

“Only 15 per cent of UK subscribers currently have speeds above five mbps, compared with 65 per cent in South Korea.

“And only 0.2 per cent of UK households had a superfast broadband connection at the end of last year – compared to 12 per cent in Sweden and 34 per cent in Japan.”

Although more than 70 per cent of households in the UK subscribe to broadband, a recent Ofcom survey found that the majority of UK homes cannot access broadband speeds of 24 Mbits/sec.

The proposed hubs are one way of linking many neighbourhoods, including those in remote or rural areas, with high-speed connections. Extending the internet access to the home however will require additional investment by communities, ISPs or other investors.

ISBA’s media and advertising director, Bob Wootton, welcomed the new Government’s change of tone, saying: “We were disappointed at the previous lack of vision of a 2mb Britain however we are now encouraged by the Government’s recognition that seriously faster broadband is vital for a successful digital economy.”

Jeremy Hunt appeared as a guest on the Today programme this morning on BBC Radio 4, but veteran presenter Jim Naughtie struggled rather when previewing the interview.