I’m hot off the BBC Breakfast sofa, where I was talking about broadband ahead of the publication of the Digital Britain report.

For today, Stephen Carter – the departing Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting – unveils his report into Digital Britain. It could be a significant step in the UK’s recovery. But it’s more likely to be a load of hot air that will be ignored until the election – and then ditched by the incoming Tory government.

But even before it’s ignored, Digital Britain looks a little weak. Take the ‘broadband for all’ recommendations outlined in the interim report published earlier this year: it recommends setting minimum download speeds (to be implemented by 2012) at 2Mbps using satellite and mobile to plug the broadband notspots.

Unfortunately, satellite and mobile deliver tortuously slow upload speeds, with high latency too boot – so while you might be able to stream video with them, you won’t be able to upload it. Or play games. Or use VoIP. And they’re just some of today’s  common applications – what of the ideas that are only being generated today?

Even today’s ‘high-speed’ fixed line connections usually come with a paltry 512kbps upload speed. That’s simply not good enough for the next generation of truly interactive cloud computing.

Truth is, if the government wants to keep the UK at the forefront of the global digital economy, it needs a fibre-optic infrastructure to match Japan, where the average published speed is 93Mbps, or South Korea, where 90% of homes have access to broadband speeds of over 50Mbps – and a new gigabit service is at hand. Even Australia has recently announced an A$43bn superfast broadband programme. The Digital Britain report is likely to recommend investment of a paltry £1.2bn left over from the digital switcover.

Superfact broadband has led  to significant cultural changes in Korea – not to mention new economic opportunities. 43% of Koreans are signed up to the virtual world Cyworld – which made £5m in a month last year.

So here’s my recommendation for Digital Britain: think of the internet like the canals and railways of the 21st Century. Invest in a fibre-optic network with minimum download speeds of 100Mbps in the city, with copper and WiMax delivering 10Mbps in rural areas. Ensure upload speeds hit a minimum of 2Mbps. And regulate broadband to ensure that 100Mbps doesn’t mean, in reality, 1Mbps because there are too many people on your local loop.

This structural investment will cost in the short term – but will, long-term, pay massive dividends.

Unfortunately, long-term political strategy only stretches as far as the next election in June 2010.

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Comments ( 2 )

The internet should be treated internet like the quality of the air we breathe and the water we drink. It is no longer a luxury and for most a necessity. However, the government need to stop looking at short term wins and look at the long term strategy, similar to those in Asia and the Nordic countries. We can lead other nations in the digital world, as long as we also manage our online presence, rules, privacy and piracy thinking.

@sadsack99 added these pithy words on Jun 16 09 at 9:46 am

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