Conservative's broadband approach could alienate voters

The Tory party has promised 100Mbit/s for all by 2017

The Conservative Party's decision to wait three years before considering whether to use a portion of the BBC license fee to implement 100Mbit/s speeds by 2017 could backfire, according to research firm Point Topic.

The firm's chief analyst, Tim Johnson, said that he believes the Tories' approach of "wait-and-see" could harm its position in marginal areas, particularly in rural communities.

"The issue of broadband rollouts may not on its own cause votes to be lost, but rival candidates could well exploit the situation by claiming the Tories were not committed to rural areas' needs, and instead were hoping market forces would solve the issue," he said.

"The Conservatives have said they will change market regulations around access to BT's ducts before they looked to consider using a percentage of the BBC license fee, which wouldn't be for around two years."

Furthermore, the research by Point Topic found that the majority of areas in need of the highest subsidies for broadband were controlled by the Conservative Party, which could again cause issues for the upcoming election.

Johnson added that for businesses, the ability to access super-fast broadband was vital, and one that had wide-ranging economic benefits.

"Any IT business looking to set up in rural areas of the country will only be able to do so if there is high-speed access. Similarly, it's been shown that people can work from home very productively if they have access to fast broadband," he said.

Overall, the research firm backed both parties' commitments to getting Britain online with superfast broadband, claiming it represents "one of the best public investments available to the country".

"The economy will benefit first through the stimulus to a wide range of industries, from high-tech fibre-optics to digging ditches, and then through the return generated from increased productivity and cost savings," the research noted.