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UK falling behind in broadband speed
Ministers have warned that the UK risks falling behind other countries with regards to broadband speeds. Other countries such as the US, France, Germany and Japan are all rolling out fixed-line networks made of fibre optic cable. These cables will deliver broadband speeds of 50 to 100 megabits a second and would cope with even the most bandwidth hungry businesses and homes.
The government has been said to be willing to consider some form of public intervention to spur some private sector investment in these ultra fast broadband networks.
BT, the leading fixed-line telecommunications company, is planning to offer UK homes broadband speeds of up to 24 megabits per second next year, and is currently looking at whether to install fibre optics to the kerb side. They have repeatedly insisted there is no economic case for taking fibre optics all the way to homes, except on new builds, simply because of the costs involved.
Ofcom (the communications regulator) has said regulatory reform was one way that the government could persuade companies such as BT to install the cables. BT has stated that if the pricing regime allowed it to recoup its costs, then it may spend more on the infrastructure.
Tags:
broadband, uk, ofcom, international
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