Households to have 10mbps broadband by 2018

HIGH speed broadband reaching speeds of at least 10 Mbps will be available to everyone in Halton by 2020, the Government has announced.

It is the speed that independent regulator Ofcom says is needed to meet the requirements of an average family.

A spokesman for the Department For Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) spokesman said after careful consideration, the Government has decided that regulation is the best way of ensuring everyone in the UK can receive a decent broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps as soon as possible.

The project will be delivered by a regulatory Universal Service Obligation (USO).

Ofcom’s implementation is expected to take two years from when secondary legislation is first laid out, meeting the Government’s commitment of giving everyone access to high speed broadband by 2020.

Culture secretary Karen Bradley said: “We know how important broadband is to homes and businesses and we want everyone to benefit from a fast and reliable connection.

“We are grateful to BT for their proposal but have decided that only a regulatory approach will make high speed broadband a reality for everyone in the UK, regardless of where they live or work.

“This is all part of our work on ensuring that Britain’s telecomms infrastructure is fit for the future and will continue to deliver the connectivity that consumers need in the digital age.”

In the summer, the Government received a proposal from BT to deliver universal broadband through a voluntary agreement.

But the DCMS spokesman said though the proposal was welcomed, ‘we did not feel’ the proposal was strong enough to take the regulatory USO off the table, and therefore decided not to pursue it.

Following the creation of new powers when the Government passed the Digital Economy Act 2017, a consultation on the design of the regulatory USO was launched in the summer.

The Government will now set out the design for a legal right to high speed broadband in secondary legislation early next year.