Cross-party broadband pledges come under fire

Industry experts say cross-party commitment to 2Mbit/s is woefully inadequate

All parties say there is a role for the state in funding broadband rollout

As general electioneering hots up, the commitment to universal broadband rollout by the UK’s three main political parties has been criticised by industry figures as lacking in ambition, being scant on detail and offering little in the way of real business advantage to the UK.

Despite references to the role broadband rollout has to play in the UK’s success by Labour, the Conservatives, and to a lesser degree the Lib Dems, industry figures have slated the cross-party commitment to 2Mbit/s broadband, saying it is inadequate for the needs of modern consumers, and falls way short of business requirements.

Andy Lockwood, transformation director of Opal, the B2B arm of TalkTalk Group, said: “I don’t think 2Mbit/s is fast enough. That may have been appropriate a few years ago but nowadays it’s hopelessly slow. But speed isn’t the only measure. It’s about what speed you can guarantee 24/7, and it’s about giving users choice so that those who want to be at the forefront, can.”

Dr Peter Gradwell, managing director of Gradwell, an ISP and VoIP provider for small businesses, said: “The question is, are we setting our sights at the right level? I don’t think 2Mbit/s is ambitious enough compared with the rest of the world.

“Making broadband universally available needs to be a priority. There is definitely a case for a government-supported infrastructure and that will probably need to be paid for by some tax,” Gradwell added.

Labour says, should it be re-elected, it will keep its controversial 50p tax on fixed telephone lines to extend the rollout of fibre-based broadband access to 90 per cent of the country by 2017. The levy would generate up to £175m and is also broadly supported by the Lib Dems.

But the Tories strongly oppose Labour’s 50p tax, preferring instead to force BT and other infrastructure providers to open their cable ducts to deliver superfast broadband across the country.

Virgin Media refused to comment on specific political policies, but a spokeswoman said its rollout of 50Mbit/s broadband had raised expectations among consumers about the sort of service they should expect to receive. It will start rolling out a 100Mbit/s service by the end of this year. “It’s something that suits digital families,” she said.

David Williams, CEO of satellite broadband provider Avanti, said: “I’m not paying a huge amount of attention to the manifestos. There has been a bit of an arms race over the past few months about who can promise the fastest speeds. The idea that people need 100Mbit/s connections or that it is government’s role to provide that is poppycock.”

Henry Parker, programme manager at industry body Intellect, said: “All parties are espousing the same principle: that there is a role for the state in making sure people have access to broadband over the same timeframe and they accept there are areas where there is a role for the state to subsidise deployment. We have worked hard to achieve that. Where they differ is how they intend to achieve that.”

Parker said a major driver of faster broadband rollout was the huge public sector deficit and the need to develop innovative front-line public services online, particularly in the areas of education and health. “This could save the government huge amounts of money,” he said.

Malcolm Corbett, CEO of the Independent Networks Associative Co-operative, urged government to plough funding wherever possible into next-generation networks: “this will mean we don’t have to fix the problem again in the future. Labour has policy but no funding. The Tories have policy and a funding mechanism but those in rural areas will be left waiting for a long time. There needs to be more work at a national level to make sure those in the public sector understand the importance of this.”