Blair renews commitment to broadband

Prime Minister Tony Blair has committed a future Labour government to providing broadband access for all during a next term of office.

As Computing went to press, Blair told delegates at the Labour Party conference that if re-elected in the General Election, expected next year, he wants to 'end the digital divide' and ensure broadband is available to every home that wants it by 2008.

Separately, government advisory body the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) has said the UK needs a new goal for to capitalise on the progress made so far.

BSG this week launched its future programme to eliminate the remaining barriers to adoption of high-speed internet technology.

UK broadband take-up is now nearing five million subscribers, but if the market is to grow beyond 'early adopters,' stakeholders need to ensure the potential benefits are fully realised, says BSG chief executive Antony Walker.

'We've been talking about the potential of broadband to impact on competitiveness and productivity and so on but these benefits haven't really delivered yet,' he said.

'There needs to be more focus on really exploiting the full value, both for users and in terms of the commercial value that then drives take up.

'Just because we're moving through the five million mark and getting near-universal availability, that's only the beginning and there's got to be a continued evolution in terms of the nature of services themselves and the capacity of the networks - that means broadband becoming faster, more mobile, and delivering more compelling services,' he said.

Key questions still to be answered include digital rights management issues, effective online payment models and how to ensure the private sector makes a sufficient return to guarantee investment in the next generation of infrastructure and services.

The BSG is considering a new broadband target, to replace the original goal to develop the most extensive and competitive market by 2005.

'We are talking about setting a new goal for the UK to become the leading connected economy by 2010, but we have to go back to the metrics and see how we can measure it,' said Walker.