Ongoing debate about broadband is highly topical as everybody is also waiting for Lord Carter’s report (….another one….) into digital services, summit today at the British Library. This is also an intersting addendum to the Caio report, because it means that the UK government is prepared to intervene in the market both to ensure that the nbecessary infrastructure is there, but also to deal with the problems facing media companies regarding digital content – a digital economy bill on the horizon according to today’s news. Peter Mandelson:
“Speaking at the Digital Britain summit in London today, Mandelson said the government cannot be content with the telecoms industry’s current plans, which will only make super-fast broadband services available to about half the country.”
Basically, it’s pretty obvious that the landscape for this has changed dramatically because of the downturn – my guess is that the optimism in the Caio report, which was based on the markets taking care of most of the development, has had to change….plus, inevitably, this is an area which most other developed countries are keen to invest in as a way out of the recession (the US comes to mind). Budget next week might be interesting on this.