Digital Britain: Responses, drawbacks and shortfalls

So, the Digital Britain report has finally been published and, as expected, most industry figures have been grabbing hold of those metaphorical megaphones to have their say on Lord Carter's plans.

First up, on the announcement a compulsory 50p levy per month is to be introduced to telephone bills, many felt the money could be better spent on kickstarting next-gen broadband networks rather than focusing on kitting up Britons with a basic 2Mb broadband access. Felix Geyr, managing director of Be Broadband summed up this common view by commenting: “We're not against the levy, but it would have been Be's preference for this investment to have been put into providing the next generation of broadband. As a specialist broadband provider whose members have a clear need for higher broadband speeds, we will continue to invest in our networks to provide tomorrow's broadband and are keen to hear the Government's plans for investment in this area.”

Putting an interesting spin on things, the ISPA noted the proposal to enforce a 50p levy to create a Next Generation Fund was enabled by the “historic fall in telecoms prices”. It said, in effect customers and the internet service provider industry was being penalised for successfully managing to bring prices down in the first place.

Meanwhile, Shadow Culture, Media and Sport minister Jeremy Hunt MP was less taken by the details of the publication. He criticised Lord Carter's handiwork, submitting the following response to the BBC: “It was a disappointing report – this was the opportunity for the government to show it had a grip on the problems facing the digital economy. The numbers don't add up: the telephone tax raises 150m a year, but the cost to get broadband to the most rural parts of the country will cost £3bn.”

Sparking debate too was the announcement Ofcom and internet services providers will be granted greater powers to punish and potentially prosecute persistent illegal downloaders in light of tackling file sharing. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) chief executive, Geoff Taylor revealed he was dubious this new tactic would work. Speaking to the BBC he commented: “Evidence shows that the Government's 'write and then sue' approach won't work. And Government appears to be anticipating its failure by lining up backstop powers for Ofcom to introduce technical measures later. This digital dithering puts thousands of jobs at risk in a creative sector that the government recognises as the driver of the digital economy.”

For The Guardian's Charles Arthur too much emphasis is being placed on combating file sharing and not enough is being done to acknowledge why Briton's are insisting on resorting to torrent sites in the first place. He also commented on the apparent flaws surrounding the drawn out punishment process: “Lord Carter's recommendations read, at best, as circumlocutious,” said Charles Arthur on the reports revelation it will be consulting on a proposal to legislate to give Ofcom a duty to take steps at reducing copyright infringement “That's six steps between the report and the outcome: consult, propose, legislate, give duty, take steps, reduce. And in the meantime, the ferocious file swapping will continue.”

Meanwhile, Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling said of the Digital Britain report: “Committing to a 2Mb universal broadband speed by 2012 is, frankly, meaningless. 50Mb broadband is already a reality in the UK, while 160Mb broadband is available in Japan. Software applications are being designed to to take advantage of these speeds, and will be common across the board by 2012 - a 2Mb connection is nothing to write home about now, and could be close to useless for many internet services in a few years. The Government is committing to a speed for the future that is barely adequate today.

“And what of upload speeds, ignored by the report? While we're all aware that download speeds grab the headlines, upload speeds are becoming increasingly important for both work and leisure. But we do get a 50p tax on phone lines that the Government expects will raise less than £200m per year - a drop in the ocean in terms of the finances needed to fund Digital Britain. It sounds like a massive own goal, as it will be unpopular and of no real benefit to the majority of those paying it.

“Once you add in the lukewarm reaction of the entertainment industry to its proposals around copyright, Lord Carter and his team seem to have achieved next to nothing with this Digital Britain report, which is hugely disappointing.”

Broadband Genie is interested to hear your opinion on the latest report. Are you angered by the 50p levy? Or disappointed by the lack of practical details mentioned in the publication? What are your views on Lord Carter's proposed anti-piracy tactics? Leave your comments below.