Innovation key to UK broadband take-up

Around 70 per cent of Brits are currently online

A greater range of innovative online services is required if the government is to come good on its pledge to get every citizen online by 2015, according to industry experts.

Sean Williams, managing director of strategy at BT Retail, said at the Britain's Digital Future event today that, while Britain has a level of internet take-up of around 70 per cent, it is services such as Project Canvas that will push this further.

"The Project Canvas drive for a platform to offer customers a choice between broadcast television and internet-hosted shows will drive more take-up of broadband services due to the ubiquity and comfort of using a television over a computer," he said.

"We could hope to see penetration of broadband rise from 70 per cent to maybe 90 per cent if the service goes ahead. We would urge Virgin and Sky to end their campaign to kill Canvas, as there is no case for it to be regarded as anti-competitive."

The issue of what will encourage more users to get online was also touched on by Sarah Hunter, head of public policy at Google, who suggested that offering access is not enough to drive greater use of the web.

"Widespread fast broadband is not the same as connectivity. Use of broadband in South Korea is actually lower than in other nations, such as the Nordic countries. The 'build it and they will come' theory is simply not true," she said.

"Innovation will stimulate demand. The services on offer need to be compelling and useful. Public policy frameworks could influence what services are brought online. It's about asking what you want to give people online as well as just giving them access."

Mike Short, vice president of research and development at O2, agreed that a greater range of broadband services is key to driving take-up.

"There could be anywhere between 20 billion and 50 billion connected devices in the world by 2020, and it's important that all sectors realise how this could affect them. Health, for example, could radically change by offering monitoring in the home," he said.

Short offered a different opinion to that of Hunter, claiming that it is more likely that demand from services will come from consumers, rather than being led by any government regulations.

He also touched on the rise of 4G Wi-Fi technologies, noting that they will provide competition with wireline services, given the speeds.

Finally, Kip Meek, chairman of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, called on the government to provide a clear regulatory framework to help companies make educated investment decisions.

"[Culture secretary] Jeremy Hunt has said that he wants Britain to be top of the tree in terms of being a connected country, and clearly he is going to formulate a set of targets that reflects this aspiration. We need this to be done urgently," he said.