Britain must keep up with high-speed broadband

Britain should make every effort to keep up with its competitors in the provision of high-speed broadband.

That is according to the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) chairman Kip Meek, who has warned that "it would be bad for Britain if we were behind our competitors".

His comments come in the wake of the government´s announcement that it is launching a consultation into the future of broadband. However, he noted that it as yet unclear how soon the country could provide such broadband.

Mr Meek commented: "The review is very much addressing what issues might be appropriate for the government to intervene on. We see it as a very timely piece of work. We´re very supportive of it.

"I do think that in due course, it would be bad for Britain if we were behind our competitors on provision of high-speed broadband - of course the real question is, what does ´in due course´ mean? When should this happen?"

He also questioned whether the government needs to pour a lot of money into helping provide high-speed broadband, adding that investment could come from the private sector.