Gov't confusion over national 2Mbps commitment

Confusion has broken out within government circles over the 2Mbps universal broadband coverage that was called for by Stephen Carter's Digital Britain report.

At a Parliament and Internet conference held in London on Thursday, the head of broadband policy for Lord Mandelson's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) said the government had "never said there will be 2Mbps [provided to UK citizens] at any given time".

Andy Carter (no relation to Stephen, Lord Carter) said in a discussion session that Digital Britain had called for broadband speeds of up-to-2Mbps to be instituted across the country, and that 2Mbps was not a minimum requirement of the strategy.

"This is not an obligation," Andy Carter said. "This is the government recognising that services are not available [in certain areas of the country] and it is an attempt to correct that."

However, communications minister Stephen Timms — Lord Carter's successor — then arrived to address all the delegates at the conference. Asked to clarify the significance of Digital Britain's 2Mbps references, Timms said 2Mbps was "a minimum basic level of service, a safety net".

"It will be the universal service obligation and I feel confident that we will be able to ensure that 2Mbps is available everywhere," Timms said.

Later in the conference, Derek Wyatt MP — the head of the All-Party Communications Group (apComm) — praised Timms for saying the universal service obligation would ensure minimum speeds of 2Mbps across the country.

"I was encouraged that he was brave enough to say that," Wyatt said. "That's what we want."

When Digital Britain came out in July, the government said the universal service obligation would be funded at least in part by money that had been set aside for the digital switchover, but not yet spent.

The government has maintained a stance of technology neutrality on the rollout, saying it could be met by a combination of fixed-line, wireless and/or satellite services.