UK's broadband infrastructure 'seriously lagging' according to business secretary

The UK’s broadband infrastructure came under intense fire, in a speech made by Business Secretary Greg Clark at a recent conference. Mr Clark was speaking at the latest Institute of Directors’ annual conference in London when he made the comments.

At the conference, Mr Clark stressed the importance of upgrading Britain’s infrastructure so businesses can have a “smart and modern connection”. While new infrastructure such as the Crossrail is set to open, he says, the broadband and telecoms are seriously lagging behind and it is “unacceptable in 2016”. He further stressed that these issues need to be addressed as soon as possible if the UK is to keep up with the competition and succeed as “broadband can connect businesses to their workforce”.

Mr Clark went on to state that each region of the country should be treated as individual areas, as opposed to the “one-size-fits-all” approach. "In my view, any successful industrial strategy has to be local," Mr Clark said.

"Governments are fond of quoting national figures - of economic growth, of productivity, of employment. But the truth is economic growth does not exist in the abstract."

The latest remarks have come after two of the largest internet service providers (ISPs) BT and Virgin Media have released an advert in an effort to promote the UK’s broadband infrastructure. The decision to do so came after the EU referendum result, with the advertisement making the point that Britain has faster internet download speeds than France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

In an interview with the Telegraph, BT chief executive Gavin Patterson said: “It's important post-Brexit that we don’t talk the country down and that the right climate exists for further investment."

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(Image: Bidgee)