David Cameron announces ‘universal service obligation’ to push broadband access
As the world becomes increasingly connected, broadband access has evolved from being something that’s nice to have to something’s that’s imperative to live and work in the modern world.
Fostering broadband access is a major priority in the U.S. for the Obama administration – which recently put broadband on equal footing with water and electricity by calling it a “core utility” – and regulators at the Federal Communications Commission.
Across the Atlantic, the emphasis on broadband is also growing in the United Kingdom. Prime Minister David Cameron recently pledged to develop a new “universal service obligation” that would mandate all U.K. homes and businesses have access to broadband speeds of 10 Mbps or faster by 2020.
“Access to the Internet shouldn’t be a luxury; it should be a right – absolutely fundamental to life in 21st century Britain,” Cameron said.
“That is why I’m announcing a giant leap in my digital mission for Britain. Just as our forebears effectively brought gas, electricity and water to all, we’re going to bring fast broadband to every home and business that wants it,” he said. “That’s right: We’re getting Britain – all of Britain – online, and on the way to becoming the most prosperous economy in the whole of Europe.”
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale said, “Coverage has already reached more than 83% of U.K. homes and businesses. By next month, 3.5 million more U.K. homes and businesses will have access to superfast speeds – and the government’s superfast program is on track to extend that to 95% by the end of 2017.”
The development of broadband infrastructure obviously requires investment from private-sector communications service providers.
Earlier this year Virgin Media announced Project Lightning, a plan to spend more than $4.6 billion to bring 152 megabit-per-second broadband Internet to some 4 million homes and businesses in the U.K.
Virgin touts its data speed as “at least” twice as fast as competitor offerings; and Virgin Media’s CEO even name-checked carrier BT, which also operates in the U.K. broadband space.
“In virtually all of the areas we have identified for expansion,” CEO Tom Mockridge said, “BT is the only option available right now. Its aging copper telephony wires are not capable of the ultrafast connectivity that Virgin Media delivers.”
Speaking of BT, in September CEO Gavin Patterson laid out plans to continue pushing for what he called “Britain’s digital future.”
Speaking at BT’s Delivering Britain’s Digital Future conference in London, Patterson laid out plans to improve speeds in rural areas, improve speeds overall as supported by new infrastructure rollouts and improve customer service.
“For the past five years,” he said, “the U.K. has been the largest digital economy in the G20, by percentage of [gross domestic product]. We think the U.K. has an even brighter future ahead if we make the right decisions today.We want to forge an ultrafast future for Britain and stand ready to help government deliver the broadband speeds necessary for every property to enjoy modern-day Internet services, such as high-definition TV streaming and cloud computing. To achieve this, we need a collaborative effort across industry and government.”
In terms of improving existing speeds, Patterson said BT would extend service in the 300 Mbps to 500 Mbps range to some 10 million homes by the end of 2020 and the majority of homes within a decade. He also touted a 1 gigabit-per-second service option.
In addition to fiber, BT is also utilizing G.fast technology for last-mile deployments.
There’s also the possibility that the 2020 vision will be realized with the financial support of a tax levy.
According to the BBC, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates it will cost roughly $800 million to guarantee broadband access to 100% of U.K. homes. In order to fund such an endeavor, the government is reportedly examining the possibility of imposing a levy on Internet-related industry.
The levy would be an update to the previous 50 pence (about 75 cents) phone levy that has previously been used by the U.K. to fund telecom infrastructure development. If such a tax were imposed, it could add as much as 1 pound ($1.57 based on current exchange rates) a month to all Internet bills across the country.
