Broadband needs more investment

The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) has called for more investment in broadband networks, but this may lead to an argument over who should pay the bill.

In its third annual report the BSG said that "significant progress" had been made to date, but warned that there is no room for complacency.

The UK has already been overtaken by countries such as South Korea and Sweden which are already deploying next-generation broadband services.

"We have made good progress, but this is not the end. It is the end of the beginning," BSG chief executive Antony Walker told vnunet.com.

Industry and government still need to reach significant milestones before the end of the decade, according to the BSG, including the development of content and applications to make broadband services worthwhile.

For this to be possible, the infrastructure for the next generation of broadband needs to be put in place. This entails bringing together fixed and mobile services, and offering higher bandwidth.

But Walker warned that uncertainty remains over the willingness of the government to remove some of the risk by offering subsidies.

The BSG said that the current telecoms review was critical to the process of creating the right balance to push broadband forward, but that it would not be an easy task.

"Ofcom has a difficult job and a huge responsibility to get the right balance," said Walker.

BT also indicated that it would be raising the issue of regulation with Ofcom.

Chief broadband officer Alison Ritchie said: "It is also the case that broadband services are getting faster, so new networks will have to be built to support the services of the future.

"These networks require huge investment from key players such as BT, so it is critical that regulation encourages that investment."