UK government’s ‘poverty of ambition’ on broadband blasted
The Institute of Directors have criticised the UK government’s ‘poverty of ambition’ in relation to its broadband targets, with the business body calling for broadband speeds of 10 gigabits per second by 2030 – 1,000 times larger than the official goal of 10 megabits per second by 2020.
The Iod D notes that whilst the UK is a world leader in the internet economy it has fallen behind European competitors at installing the necessary fibre optic cables for the fastest speeds.
Dan Lewis, senior adviser on infrastructure policy at the IoD, said: “We have the leading internet economy in the G20, and yet download speeds are mediocre and the coverage of fibre optic cable is woeful. The demand for data is growing exceptionally fast, and with Virtual Reality and the Internet of Things just around the corner, about to grow even faster. But our network is behind the curve. Unfortunately, the Government’s current target displays a distinct poverty of ambition.”
At present just a fraction of one per cent of the UK population has access to fibre connections, versus a third of homes and businesses in Lithuania.