Industry news

Collaboration 'is the key to improved broadband infrastructure'

Governments in the UK and the rest of Europe need to come up with a collaborative way of ensuring telecoms infrastructure is updated, an industry expert has said.

Kip Meek, chairman of the Broadband Stakeholder Group, was making the comments after the UK government revealed that it was set to launch an independent review into provision of high-speed broadband across the country.

Mr Meek explained that it was unlikely that officials would opt to write "out big cheques for the fibre".

Instead, he stressed the importance of "looking at investing in infrastructure in a collaborative way".

He added: "I do think that in due course, it would be bad for Britain if we were behind our competitors on provision of high-speed broadband.

"The second key question is whether or not the government should spend substantial amounts of money to make it happen. My own view at the moment is that this is not going to be the case, and that we will find ways of creating the right investment environment, for the private sector [to contribute]."

In conclusion, Mr Meek stressed that it was vital that everyone in the industry, from the ISP and content providers to the "big infrastructure players" work together on the issue.