Labour: 30Mbps broadband for all

Labour has promised 30Mbps broadband for everyone by 2022, and more free Wi-fi in city centres and on public transport.

The pledges are in the party’s General Election manifesto, which was leaked several days before it was due to be officially launched.

It says: “Few things are more crucial to businesses and our economy than a fast and reliable internet connection, but 3 million households and businesses have been left incapacitated by slow internet”.

Labour claims that the Conservatives’ commitment to 10Mbps universal speeds will “see 400,000 small businesses and nearly two million homes left with substandard broadband well into the next decade”.

The manifesto outlines similarly ambitions plans for public Wi-fi: “We will improve 4G coverage and will invest to ensure all urban areas as well as major roads and railways have uninterrupted 5G coverage”.

But the leaked proposals include no detail on how they will be funded.

The Conservatives have called for the public to have the legal right to demand 10Mbps, rejecting a recommendation by the House of Lords to increase this to 30Mbps.

In April, Digital Minister Matt Hancock warned that internet service providers like BT and Sky may mount a legal challenge, saying that a 30Mbps minimum is too high.

He added that there’s not sufficient public demand to justify 30Mbps, proposing instead that Ofcom increases the 10Mbps minimum only when more than 75 per cent of people sign up for it.

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