UK broadband minister to be introduced this week

Government to announce new role to tackle internet issues

A new broadband minister is set to be named this week

The coalition government could appoint a new broadband minister this week, according to reports.

According to BBC News, the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills has suggested an appointment will be made in the area in the next couple of days.

A likely candidate for the role appears to be culture minister Ed Vaizey.

The main priorities for the new minister will be ensuring that all areas of the UK have a broadband speed of at least 2Mb/s. The broadband minister will also need to draw up a plan for getting next-generation broadband to the third of the country that is unlikely to be served by current commercial plans.

Meanwhile, regulator Ofcom has been working on writing up a code of conduct for ISPs file-sharing, following the introduction of the Digital Economy Act. The code is due to be published in the next few weeks and will offer details on how the procedure, copyright infringement reports and appeals will be handled.