Digital Britain – the experts' views

What the experts say...

The Digital Britain report was released yesterday, unveiling a wide-ranging blueprint for the UK's digital future, covering broadband, intellectual property, downloading, online public services, digital inclusion and more. We round up the responses of experts across the industry.

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On next-generation network rollout – Accountancy firm BDO Stoy Hayward head of telecoms Richard Heap:
"Lord Carter has said he’s going to tax every phone line in the country £6 per annum to fund this inaptly named 'next-generation network'. A recent Ipsos Mori poll has shown that 43 per cent of people wouldn’t use broadband even if they had access to it. This clearly begs the question of where resources should be allocated - surely in quicker broadband rather than trying to meet the universal service commitment? What’s needed is a wider education campaign highlighting the benefits of a connected Britain and a more widespread network of connected terminals in public locations such as schools, libraries, supermarkets, doctor’s surgeries and the like.”

On a universal service commitment of 2Mbit/s – KPMG's head of communication regulation David Thomas
“Residential consumers, SMEs and teleworkers are likely to be disappointed by the lack of ambition for universal broadband speeds of only 2Mbit/s. However this low target is not surprising, given the lack of available government funding due to the current economic environment and the industry view that customers will be unwilling to may much more for broadband. This is in stark contrast to the radical plans announced in Australia to spend £21bn, funded jointly by government and industry."

On publicly held personal data - Law firm Osborne Clarke's head of data protection James Mullock
"The prime minister has tasked a panel of experts, led by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, to investigate how to implement a single online point of access for all public UK datasets with a view to encouraging re-use of, and innovation with, public data. This is likely to be modelled on the successful approach taken in the US and will replace the current Crown licensing arrangements for access to public UK public data, often criticised as too restrictive. It will be interesting to see what, if any, future revenue generation models public authorities are permitted to operate in respect of data currently 'owned' by them. At a time when public authorities face the deepest round of government spending cuts in a generation, the prospect of data revenue generation being reduced will not be welcomed with open arms."

On lack of support for the UK gaming industry – IT recruitment specialist Computer People's managing director Nick Dettmar
“The computer games industry is often overlooked by government funding schemes even though it contributes more than £1bn to the UK's gross domestic product, more than the film industry, which receives support in the form of tax breaks. Gaming is the medium by which many youngsters can relate to computing, while they may have little interest in learning valuable life skills in Excel and web development. If we can secure an interest in the IT industry as a whole from a young age, increase the level of students that we see enrolling in optional IT modules and further education in IT, then this will strengthen the sector as a whole and in turn, boost the economy.”

On who will deliver Lord Carter's recommendations – Ovum senior analyst Matthew Howett
"Leaving the criticisms aside, Lord Carter has evolved the way of thinking about the future approach to regulating the communications sector, and his departure from the department is a setback. While Ofcom is very competent as an economic regulator, it has been shown to lack the strategic joined-up thinking that some aspects of Digital Britain have managed. The task now is to find solutions to the recommendations Carter makes, and in many instances this falls to those that were already doing just that: Ofcom."

On why Digital Britain is a missed opportunity for flexible working in the UK - ISP TalkTalk Group's B2B division Opal managing director Paul Lawton
“For flexible working to be a viable option, home workers need to be able to enjoy the same “experience” - speed, performance and security - as they would in the office. This would usually involve running some form of IP virtual private network as well as the use of desktop conferencing, voice over IP applications and MPLS networking allowing workers to be connected into the cloud using low cost broadband links. However, what all of these opportunities require is broadband that is both ubiquitous and capable of providing the performance and speeds to support them. If, as the prime minister says, Britain is to leapfrog other countries from its current position, a framework must be put in place to support the new raft of high-bandwidth, business-critical applications required for UK businesses to complete.”

On why Digital Britain fails to recognise that new copyright laws are needed - Commercial law firm Beachcroft LLP’s copyright expert Robin Fry
"The government is floored by what to do, with neither the copyright owners nor the ISPs having any appetite to challenge file-sharers directly. There are no votes and no financial incentive to re-run a Pirate Bay trial in Britain. Requiring ISPs to send out warning letters is a hopeless distraction. It's like asking bus companies to tell passengers not to be late for work, or making airlines responsible for all drug smuggling.”

On why IPv6 needs to be widely deployed to meet the government’s aim of broadband for all - RIPE NCC, regional internet registry for Europe, the Middle East and Central Asia’s managing director, Axel Pawlik
“The more widespread the internet becomes, the more computers will be connected to the UK-wide network. For the ‘broadband for all by 2012’ vision of the UK government to become a reality, we need a dramatic increase in the number of available IP addresses, the numeric IDs assigned to all devices connected to the internet. The IP addresses currently most widely in use, IP version 4, are set to run out by 2011. So, to connect all computers to high-speed internet, the new generation of IP addresses, known as IPv6 must be rolled out."