IT minister calls for Europe to dig for victory in broadband

Stephen Carter urges countries to "open up the trenches" in quest for universal access to broadband

Fibre optics will help deliver next-generation broadband

The UK's minister for communications, technology and broadcasting, Stephen Carter, has called for a Europe-wide initiative to give citizens universal access to broadband.

Carter has urged Europe to "metaphorically, and also perhaps literally, consider digging or at least opening up the trenches for universal access for broadband".

Speaking ahead of tomorrow's European Council meeting in Brussels on the Electronic Communications & Networks Framework, Carter said that "whether by wire, satellite or any other means, broadband is the crucial underpinning for a competitive global Europe".

While UK communications regulator Ofcom and the government agree that there should be no "two-speed" infrastructure in the UK - such as fibre for densely populated metropolitan areas and "make-do-and-mend" for rural areas - how that is to be achieved is still being discussed. Ofcom's latest consultation exercise concludes on 2 December.

The Caio Review, commissioned in September by the Treasury and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, concluded that next-generation access involving large optical fibre deployments should be delivered without government subsidies or intervention.

Ofcom leans towards the main push towards next-generation access being provided by the private sector, with larger carriers investing in fibre, led by the incentive of substantial non-interference with such rollouts.