Industry reacts positively to UK broadband plans

Jeremy Hunt has announced several measures to deliver broadband to all UK citizens

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt's announcement on Tuesday that the government will push ahead with plans to accelerate the UK's broadband infrastructure has met with a generally positive reaction.

Hunt said that he may consider legislation that would force infrastructure providers to open up their assets in order to drive broadband deployment and tackle the digital divide.

Antony Walker, chief executive of the Broadband Stakeholders Group, praised Hunt for outlining the government's plans for broadband and giving the industry a clear goal.

"The indication that the government wants to get next-generation access into hard-to-reach areas is positive, as is the announcement that they are looking to run a number of trials on how this could best be achieved," he said.

"However, the government will not have a lot of money to play with, so it must make sure it spends wisely on these trials and doesn't overlap with areas where the market alone could provide services."

Walker added that Hunt's threat of introducing legislation if necessary to get infrastructure opened up should be used as a last resort, and felt that an incentive-led scheme could be more beneficial.

Andrew Heaney, executive director of TalkTalk, backed Hunt's move to open up network infrastructures, but argued that the government could help deployments by improving legislation in this area.

"It seems like a sound approach grounded in enabling private sector deployment by allowing infrastructure sharing and assessing the case for public funds elsewhere," he said.

"However, there are other areas that need addressing, such as the arcane rates system that discourages [building new networks], and ensuring that public networks offer cost-effective open access."

BT, which has already said that it will open up its ducts and telegraph poles to other providers, welcomed Hunt's announcement, admitting that rolling out broadband in rural areas based on a market-only approach would be difficult.

"BT is investing billions of pounds to get fibre to two thirds of the UK without government support, but the commercial case in rural areas is far more challenging. That's why a degree of support is required," the telco said in a statement.

"This support has the potential to trigger further private sector investment, and BT will engage with the government on its plans. Funding should only be made available to companies that allow others access to their networks on equal terms."

Phil Smith, UK managing director of Cisco, agreed with Hunt that it is vital for the future of the UK to greatly improve its broadband network.

"The culture secretary is certainly right to highlight the huge disparity between overall broadband speed in Britain and in countries such as South Korea, " he said.

"We need to be more ambitious as a country and act now to get back on the progressive broadband track if Britain is to maintain its place at the forefront of knowledge-based industries."

Nick Thompson, director of consumer services at Kingston Communications, agreed that providing access to broadband is vital in preventing a digital divide.

"People living in rural locations have long been second-class citizens when it comes to broadband. This simply has to change and it is the responsibility of service providers to make sure every household is connected to 21st century speeds," he said.

The Fibre to the Home Council warned yesterday that Britain and the European Union risk being left behind if they do not adopt the use of fibre for broadband deployments to homes.