Industry news

Digital Britain 'will limit future of broadband'

The government's Digital Britain proposals to boost access to high bandwidth internet services across the country could inhibit the development of broadband in the long-term, it has been claimed.

Proposals to ensure every internet connection in the country is running on two megabits per second (Mbps) or higher could have a negative impact on the overall expansion of high bandwidth services in the future, Paul Lawton, managing director of TalkTalk's business-to-business division has warned.

Writing on FreshBusinessThinking.com, Mr Lawton explained: "Digital Britain's focus on downstream speeds of only 2Mbps will limit broadband's wider use, because for businesses it is the upstream which is the limiting factor."

The government's proposals have already been criticised by others claiming that the 2Mbps target is too low, because many applications such as Voice-over Internet Protocol and media streaming services already require at least that bandwidth to function effectively.

Communications minister Lord Carter recently published his Digital Britain report, which included plans for a 50 pence levy on all fixed-line telephone lines to pay for the roll-out of high-speed broadband services across the country.