The government has proposed putting tens of millions of pounds behind Lord Carter’s ambition to offer everyone in Britain access to broadband by 2012, and is also looking to bring mobile phone services to the entire country as part of a major push to create a digital economy.Gordon Brown yesterday backed the communications minister’s plans for universal broadband access.”I do think that the digital revolution lies at the heart of success for Britain in the years to come,” he told a summit of media and telecoms industry executives in London. “Achieving that goal of universal connectivity to broadband will be a critical stepping stone to a digital Britain.”To read this report from The Guardian in full, see:
www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/apr/18/broadband-access-gordon-brown-carterAlso see:Mandelson hints at £1bn plan to supply rural homes with superfast broadband
More than £1 billion of taxpayers’ money could be deployed to help to connect 12.5 million homes in small towns and rural areas to superfast broadband, amid fears that phone companies are unable to afford to do so.Speaking at Digital Britain, a government-hosted conference, Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, hinted yesterday that ministers were considering substantial cash investment in 50 megabit broadband to avoid a situation where only half the country is easily able to download film and television programmes.
business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/telecoms/article6115609.ece
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