House of Lords criticises government's broadband strategy

House of Lords criticises government's broadband strategy

A House of Lords’ Communications Committee report has warned that the UK’s internet strategy could fall short of delivering the network capability the country needs.

The government’s strategy involves the awarding of £530 million in public money to extend the broadband network to communities that are currently struggling with limiting connections. However, this funding could be going to waste, according to the report, which claims that the network could still be far too slow to provide the required connections in the future and may well have to replaced.

The Committee’s article said, "The spectre of a widening digital divide is a profound source of concern which requires the government to address its origin with greater vigour than we believe is currently the case.”

It continues to claim that, past 2015, the technologies that the public money will be invested in are “both relatively constrained and liable to necessitate an expensive phase of upgrade, if not outright replacement in the future."

The alternative, claim the lords, is to invest in creating a series of ‘fibre hubs’, which can be located in rural regions and connected to the wider internet and accessed at a standard price.

The report also claims that fibre connections could be owned by the local broadband providers that install them, helping to increase the amount of private sector funding coming into the industry.

The report concludes with calls for the government to drop short-term targets for providing minimum broadband speeds and instead look at the kinds of services that will be needed in ten years time.

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