Consultation begins on next generation broadband

The government has started a consultation excercise to help it to make decisions on how to spend the money which is being raised towards next generation broadband.

The extra cash is due to be generated by a controversial 50p per month tax on every fixed phone line in the country, creating a pot of cash totalling something like £1 billion, which is being called the Next Generation Fund. The government needs the cash to deliver on its promise to provide universal broadband access across the UK at a minimum of 2Mb.

Government investment in broadband provision is particularly important in terms of rural areas which are currently under-served, and will continue to be so if the decision is left to the private sector. The broadband industry finds it uneconomical to provide broadband services in remote areas and consequently only 70 per cent of the country is estimated to be in line for decent broadband without some government spend. This would result in broadband speeds in cities accelerating away and leaving rural areas far behind, causing what's being called a 'digital divide'. Unveiling the consultation, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson commented: "Already the market is delivering superfast internet speeds of 50Mb to half the country but we cannot be certain that it will reach the communities that are not currently served."

So now a twelve week consultation period has been announced, giving the UK telecommunications industry the opportunity to comment on how the Next Generation Fund should be spent - which is likely to include mobile broadband providers promising big things in return for the cash, and BT voicing its doubts about mobile as the solution. Meanwhile if the Conservatives get into power in the not-so-distant general election the broadband tax will be scrapped and it'll be back to the drawing board.