FASTER BROADBAND FOR LESS

WITHIN the next two years, every home in the country must have access to internet speeds fast enough to allow high- definition quality video streaming.

This is the latest demand made by the Government as part of its commitment to ensure no community is left with poor broadband coverage. There will also be rules that allow broadband users to switch provider without penalty if promised speeds are not delivered.

All suppliers must deliver broadband speed of at least 10 megabits per second (Mbps) by 2020 under the new ‘universal service obligation’ legislation – a speed sufficient to enjoy high definition film and TV streaming via iPlayer and Netflix.

Also from late next month broadband providers must start making more realistic promises – advertising ‘ average’ download speeds available to at least half of customers at peak times, such as evenings, rather than the current misleading ‘ up to’ boasts that are seldom reached.

If a customer finds the speed they signed up to is not being achieved they will be allowed to switch supplier without penalty. This kicks in next March.

Ewan Taylor-Gibson of price comparison website uSwitch says: ‘Customers are now more focused on broadband speed as t hey are increasingly using the internet for TV viewing. It is great that if a provider fails to deliver on its promise you will be able to tear up a lengthy contract and go elsewhere. It is long overdue.’

At least half of all homes in rural areas still cannot access broadband speed of 10 megabits – some 1.5 million properties or five per cent of the population. Another 15 million customers are promised faster speeds by suppliers such as BT, TalkTalk, Virgin and Sky but are then not able to enjoy them.

James Dolleymore, from Noke in Oxfordshire, regularly experienced speeds of less than 1 megabit on a broadband deal with BT – paying £50 a month for a package including phone line rental with calls. He switched to competitor Gigaclear and now pays £41 a month for 50 megabits. He pays a further £6 a month to Vonage for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) which handles phone calls.

He says: ‘When BT upgraded the broadband infrastructure in our local area with new fibre- optic cables running to a cabinet in a neighbouring village our broad- band speeds actually fell. This is because old copper phone lines were still being used to supply our internet service from the cabinet to our home. When Gigaclear rolled up and offered to lay fibre-optic cable right to our door it transformed the way we could use the internet.’

Critics say new rules allow broadband suppliers to boast they use ‘fibre’ to provide households with broadband coverage, even when, as was the case with James, less reliable slower copper wire is still relied on.

James, 40, rents out holiday cottages at the farm where he lives with wife Felicity and children Rosie, four, and four- month- old Poppy. The business i s called Oxford Country Cottages. He says: ‘From waiting at least a second for a page to load, Gigaclear provided us with instant internet access – so we could develop a business website and also offer wi-fi to guests.’

The taxpayer has spent £1.7 billion laying fibre optics between telephone exchanges and green cabinets over the past decade – handing the money to BT which said it was not commercially viable to do the work without this Government help. BT claims it has also invested £11 billion in the project.

Ken Hunt of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, says: ‘There is a legal duty to offer internet speeds of at least 10 megabits from 2020. Otherwise, the designated provider for your area will face penalties for being negligent in their duty.’ SWITCH: The Dolleymores found a cheaper supplier with a faster service