Government to invest only £250m of £100bn infrastructure fund on broadband

Broadband spend is miniscule compared to other infrastructure investments

The government is to invest £250m on broadband in the UK, representing just 0.25 per cent of the overall £100bn figure that Whitehall expects to spend on infrastructure investment in the next parliament, to 2020.

In its Investing in Britain's Future report, the government says it wants to enable more of the UK to benefit from high-speed digital connectivity, and by investing £250m it would extend superfast broadband provision from current coverage plans in the hope that 95 per cent of UK premises will have access to superfast broadband by 2017.

The report states that government is exploring with industry how to expand coverage further, using new fixed, wireless and mobile broadband solutions, to reach at least 99 per cent of premises in the UK by 2018.

But while broadband will enjoy investment, it is a small amount compared to the £70bn the government claims it will spend on transport, the £20bn on schools and £10bn on science, housing and flood defences.

The government has been criticised in the past for not taking funding for high-speed broadband access seriously enough, and allowing BT to monopolise the provision of broadband infrastructure in the UK.

BT itself has been criticised for concentrating on the short-term goal of using existing copper lines for fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) broadband rather than investing in fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), which would enable even faster speeds. BT claims that there is not enough demand for the FTTH product.

Currently, the government plans to provide about 90 per cent of homes with fixed, "superfast" broadband by 2015, which follows former culture secretary Jeremy Hunt's ambitious aim for the UK to have "the best superfast broadband in Europe by 2015".

The government report also mentions that there will be further investment made in clearing "high-value" spectrum to support the growth in demand for new mobile services, in addition to a further auction of 4G wireless spectrum.

The government will also introduce a new system of departmental charges for government spectrum access to ensure that the public sector is playing its part in the efficient use and management of valuable spectrum.