UK Misses Government Broadband Targets

The UK’s broadband networks have failed to deliver the Governments promise to beat other G7 countries to become the most competitive provider of high speed internet connections by this year.

A new report from telecoms research specialist Ovum, commissioned by the Department for Trade and Industry, states that British Telecom’s dominance of the nation’s phone networks is to blame for the slow progress, which has left the UK languishing behind Japan and Canada in terms of the choice and price at which high-speed internet services are available.

Although BT’s grip on the nation’s telecoms infrastructure has loosened in recent years, Ovum states that not enough has been done to ensure adequate room for growth is provided, suggesting that the Government should have written in a requirement for BT to release its stranglehold over the market as part of its original plan.

However, BT recently announced plans to create a “next generation” network in Britain, with an investment of around £10 billion. The sum is far more than any other European operator, although BT states that the success of its plans are dependent on the company being assured it can generate appropriate economic returns from its investment (see BT Proposes Transparent Broadband To Avoid Break-Up).

The proposals represent an olive branch to the Government by BT, which is clearly hoping to stave off an enforced break-up of its businesses by a Government eager to foster growth in the sector. However, the prospect of BT’s £10 billion high-speed network could be the closest the Government has yet come to delivering the promises it made at the height of the dot com boom.

The popularity of broadband has also never been greater, with new data from Nielsen//NetRatings indicating that 32.3 million people in the UK now have access to the internet through high-speed connections (see Internet Users Reach All Time High). The growth shows no signs of slowing, with BT’s wholesale division now reporting a new high-speed customer every ten seconds, with its last one million connections being secured in just four months, adding an average of 8,500 homes to its network each day, seven days a week (see BT Claims Broadband Takeup Accelerating).

BT: 0207 469 2337 www.btplc.com

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