National Infrastructure Commission calls for full fibre-to-the-premises, UK wide, by 2033

Commission calls for government to rustle up a fibre-broadband plan by spring next year

The UK government expects the country to be fully fibre by 2033, with 15 million homes and businesses connected by fibre-to-the-premises by 2025 and 25 million by 2030.

The aspirations were revealed in the latest National Infrastructure Assessment 2018 report, which indicated that the government is committed to devising a National Broadband Plan by spring 2019 revealing how full fibre will be rolled out country-wide.

By 2030, the National Infrastructure Commission also expects the UK to be generating half its power from renewables while, at the same time, also expecting UK vehicle sales to be 100 per cent electric - and eliminating both natural gas and coal as fuels for electricity generation, too.

Nevertheless, the Commission also expects autonomous vehicles only to to start rolling out towards the 2050s - much later than more optimistic forecasts.

One of the problems in turning the UK full-fibre is that taking it to every last flat in every location will be slow, disruptive and expensive.

However, the Commission argued that the UK government needs to take the lead now in order to ensure the UK does not get left behind.

"Full fibre broadband is the likely next step in digital connectivity. It is more reliable and cheaper to maintain than today's part copper, part fibre broadband connections.

But it will take at least a decade to build nationally. Government needs to make a decision on full fibre now to avoid the risk of the UK being left behind in years to come," the report concluded (PDF).

It continued: "To encourage full fibre roll-out, the government should put in place a national broadband plan by the end of 2018. Ofcom should provide certainty to commercial investors and encourage further private sector delivery of full fibre. With this certainty from government and Ofcom, most urban areas are likely to receive full fibre just through the promotion of market competition."

However, some areas will require an ongoing subsidy to encourage competition in some more remote areas where commercial players, the report adds.