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Review says Government needs to do more to help next gen broadband

by Scott Bicheno on 13 September 2008, 10:14

Tags: BERR

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Govern please, ciao

Back in February of this year, the Department for Business and HM Treasury commissioned an independent report into what it will take for the UK to develop a broadband network sufficient to keep its economy competitive.

With the frantic urgency we've come to expect from government commissioned reviews, the head of the review - Francesco Ciao - took a mere seven months to conclude that the State should help out with the development of this piece of national infrastructure.

Luckily for the State, Ciao doesn't think it needs to do that much and there is little urgency for even that. "Although demand for bandwidth and Internet traffic continues to exhibit strong growth, there is little evidence that in the short term the UK is going to suffer from the lack of an extensive next generation access network," declared Ciao.

"I have therefore concluded that the case for a public intervention at this time is weak at best. But it is the right time to create the conditions that will deliver a competitive NGA [next generation access] infrastructure in the next five years"

This strident call to arms urges the Government to actively monitor the situation and to somehow intervene to lower rollout costs "without distorting the market." Here are some of the ways it recommends this be achieved:

  • Supporting the development of local access networks by helping them organise and develop common standards;
  • Allowing NGA to be delivered over new overhead lines, by relaxing rules that currently prevent this;
  • Working with the construction industry to ensure all new homes have next generation broadband; and
  • Supporting Ofcom to ensure spectrum auctions take place soon.

Just in case the need for a not very urgent watching brief hadn't already been emphasised enough, Ciao added: "The government needs to play its part across a number of areas in supporting development of NGA. It cannot afford to be complacent." Perish the thought.

The Government was clearly moved by Ciao's urgings, with Business Secretary John Hutton promptly announcing: "We will consider his recommendations as we plan how to make sure the UK remains one of the world's leading Internet economies. We want to create the right conditions for private sector investment and stand ready to play our part in ensuring the UK has a competitive infrastructure in the years to come."

That's that sorted then.

 



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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They make out like it's no major hurry and we have a “competitive infrastructure” now, and that they just need to make sure it will continue to be like that in the future. Little do they know that our infrastructure is actually crap compared to Europe, the Far East, and the US. Probably other places too. I know New Zealand has a poor internet infrastructure like ours, and probably Antarctica do too. Maybe that's where they use as our benchmark.
i think they know about it but they can abuse the fact that a big proportion of the country doesnt.
You plonkers, spoil your article by getting the guy's name wrong

CAIO not CIAO!!!
Sort of explains everything, doesn't it.

I mean, if they can't see the state of the country's broadband catastrophe, then that fact clears up why they are so crap at sorting the stuff that needs more than a couple of brain cells to think about.

It just beggars belief - no wonder these ‘superior’ types like their horses so much - they have an affinity with blinkers, too :angst:
I think its quite simple….

Cancel the order for those pointless nukes, we DON'T NEED THEM!!!! It will save billions, imagine the infrastructure and what it would do for us the people if they invested all that money in broadband…

Personally I wouldn't invest all those billions on the internet, but just a small part of it would catapult us to the premier division of countries regarding the net. The web is the future and no doubt in 15 years time it will be vastly different to what we think it will be like now… but one thing is for certain the better our infrrastructure the better it will be for everyone.