Universal High-Speed Broadband by 2015 (3 Years after First Promised)

The original pledge made by the Labour government aimed at providing every home in the UK with at least a 2Mbps broadband connection by 2012. £250 million had been set aside from the digital switch-over fund, and was intended to contribute towards the completion of the government's universal promise.

After coming to power in May 2010, Jeremy Hunt was set to continue with the project set out by the previous administration, and even criticised its lack of zeal, denoting the promise of “a paltry 2Mbps” as a “pitifully unambitious” target.

After his analysis of the available funding for the project however, Mr Hunt has concluded that this is not a feasible option within the initial time scale as delineated by their predecessors.

In a BBC news interview, Steve Robertson, Chief Executive of BT Openreach voiced his opinion that around £2 billion of public funding would be required if this initiative was to be carried out. Whilst BT have already spent approximately £2.5 billion providing access to high-speed broadband to an estimated two thirds of UK households, but has stated that it cannot make any further progress without government backing.

Obviously many individuals and organisations have been left with a sense that the government have reneged on their promise to bring a satisfactory level of internet connection to all UK households. Although 99% of Britons have access to some form of broadband, 11% (2 million homes) are unable to access speeds of 2Mbps. This results in a restricted usability, affecting the usage of video streaming and services such as television on demand,

In addition to these 2 million homes, around 160,000 rural and remote households have no broadband access. This section of society is being left behind while the rest of society are moving forward into the next generation of the digital age.