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London (pte020/23.02.2005/11:30) - An attempt by the British government to provide the world's cheapest broadband access has failed. As The Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk reports, at the height of the dot-com boom, Tony Blair promised that Britain would leapfrog other G7 countries to become the most competitive provider of high-speed internet access by this year. The government had hoped to make the UK, which had fallen behind its European rivals, the "best place in the world for e-business". It contended that broadband would help boost productivity and competitiveness. However, following the release of a new study by Ovum yesterday, ministers have conceded that the target has been missed. The study, commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry http://www.dti.gov.uk , found that in terms of choice and price the UK was placed third behind Japan and Canada.
Analysts had predicted that the target was too ambitious. Take-up of broadband has surged in recent months. Around 15 per cent of UK homes are connected to broadband and another 200,000 homes connect each month. Broadband now accounts for 38 per cent of all internet connections in the UK. As the market becomes more competitive, the speed of internet connections has increased. At present, BT is testing an 8 Megabits per second service, which is 160 times faster than a traditional dial-up connection. However, in countries like Japan, dense housing makes it more economical to provide broadband, which costs an average of 12 pounds (17.3 euros) a month there. According to analysts, in Canada, the Government ploughed more money into getting people connected.
The report pins the blame for Britain's failure to meet the target on BT's dominance of the infrastructure and the slow progress in opening up the field to new providers. This is not the first time the British Government has fallen short of its own technological ambitions. Last year, its internet body for business, UK Online for Business, which received 25 million pounds (36.1 million euros) of government funding, was disbanded after failing to meet key targets. Yesterday, the DTI defended its progress, saying that it had met another pledge to have the most widespread access to broadband by this year. "There is no doubt from today's figures that the UK is among the best places in G7 to do e-business," said a spokesman.
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