Digital Minister allays MPs' broadband worries

Ed Vaizey has reassured MPs that any universal service obligation (USO) created by the Government would not be limited by "some piddling European target of five megabits".

Exactly what form the USO will take is due to be announced as part of Chancellor George Osborne's Spending Review on 25 November. The USO would give homes and businesses the right to complain if the agreed standards are not being met by broadband providers. Mr Vaizey has allayed MPs' fears by suggesting that these standards will be far higher than 5Mbps, thus giving Brits greater scope and power to demand superior broadband speeds.

Mr Vaizey is the Minister of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, which makes him responsible for the digital economy. One of his most important responsibilities is to oversee the Government's broadband initiatives and ensure that superfast broadband - speeds of 24Mbps and higher - reaches at least 95 per cent of Britain by the end of 2017.

However, in its Digital Communications Infrastructure Strategy, which was published earlier this year, the Government suggested that a USO would only demand speeds of at least 5Mbps, well below the 'superfast' standards, Public Technology reported.

Mr Vaizey has addressed MPs' criticism of these plans by stating that the Government would far exceed this low EU targets for minimum broadband requirements.

He said: "When we look at a universal service obligation we will look at a British universal service obligation to deliver the kind of British broadband speeds that British citizens and businesses require.

"Over the last four years we have delivered that to more than three million homes and businesses, and we are fast approaching four million."

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