Merseyside Digital Development

Industry group warns UK on broadband future April 16, 2007

The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) launched a report today on the future of broadband technology in the UK.

Broadband is already the critical enabling infrastructure of our modern, knowledge-based economy and is an integral part of many people’s lives. Next generation broadband is widely regarded as a key enabler for our future economy and is expected to bring significant benefits to the economy including improved productivity and innovation.

The report examines the potential demand for high bandwidth broadband; the factors likely to affect market development and network requirements; the likely developments in capability and capacity of access network; the constraints to investment in next generation networks, content and services; the transition from the current model to future; and the role of public sector intervention. It also makes several recommendations to government, Ofcom and the industry.

At the beginning of the decade, the UK lagged behind its global competitors in terms of broadband penetration – ranking 24 out of 32 OECD countries and with less than one in ten households with broadband.

The landscape has changed dramatically since then. There are now over 13 million broadband connections, speeds continue to rise while prices have fallen. As broadband has become more ubiquitous, new content, services and applications have emerged to drive demand.

It is therefore tempting to view the UK broadband market as a ‘job done’. However, the report warns that this is no time for complacency, as the challenge of being a world leader in the deployment, adoption and exploitation of broadband has not gone away.

As new video-rich, bandwidth-hungry services are developed in the UK and around the world, and as recognition increases that broadband forms the critical underlying infrastructure for a knowledge economy, the challenge to deliver next generation broadband networks becomes more profound.

This challenge raises a number of vital strategic questions which must be tackled by UK government and industry in the coming years:

• how will the next generation of broadband access networks develop to support emerging services and applications and enable the UK to compete in the global marketplace?
• how much speed is enough for both consumers and businesses?
• given the significant investment costs involved, how will these next generation services be made available outside the more commercially attractive high-density areas? What are the commercial, regulatory and policy drivers and barriers?
• how do we avoid creating a new geographic digital divide between urban and rural areas?

You can read the full report on the BSG website here:
- “Pipe Dreams? Prospects for next generation broadband deployment in the UK” [PDF]

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About BSG: The BSG was established as a cross-sector government advisory group in 2001 to help the UK lead the G7 in broadband penetration and connectivity. Members include: broadband service providers; broadband product suppliers; content developers; broadcasters; advertisers; central government departments; local government; representatives from Devolved Administrations and RDAs; consumers and consumer representatives; trade unions and trade associations.