The Government’s plans to spend £530m upgrading Britain’s broadband network could involve funding “very high speed broadband in cities”, a civil service job advert has revealed.
In an advert for a Programme Management Office and Finance Lead, the Broadband Development UK unit of the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) said “BDUK is also taking forward other ministerial priorities such as proposals for very high speed broadband in cities”.
It is the first time that Government has indicated that the priority is not simply to extend Britain’s broadband network to usually rural areas that are currently poorly served or not served at all. “Very high speed” is not defined, but Ofcom says slower “superfast” is above 24mbps. Jeremy Hunt has previously indicated that 90 per cent of the UK will have superfast broadband by 2015.
Julian Smith, MP for the rural constituency of Skipton and Ripon said that while some cities did have very poor levels of connectivity, he would like to see Government concentrate its money in the countryside. “I’m surprised to hear they’d look at cities, which are generally very well served and attractive to the market. I’m anxious to ensure as much of the £530million available as possible goes to deal with areas of market failure and my understanding is that the £530million is for very rural areas as the priorities.”
Mr Smith’s North Yorkshire constituency is already benefiting from some state assistance.
A DCMS spokesperson said “The Government wants the UK to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015. We have set out plans to provide 90 per cent of homes and businesses in each local authority area with superfast broadband access and everyone with access to at least 2Mbps. We are also exploring other ways to ensure Europe’s best superfast broadband network is in the UK.”
Rural broadband campaigners say that their need for upgrades is greater than those of people in most cities. Although it is widely acknowledged that cities such as Milton Keynes are poorly served by their broadband infrastructure, population densities in cities are usually high enough for companies such as BT or Virgin Media to make a return on their investments. In the countryside, where this is not the case, state aid is easier to justify. Sources close to the Department said any flagship urban projects would pass through rigorous legal tests before the state put money in. -By Matt Warman, 22 Jul 2011