Research Reveals a ‘No Confidence’ Vote in Government’s Superfast Broadband Pledge

23 November, 2010: A poll conducted by broadband comparison site www.broadband-expert.co.uk has revealed that just 5% of Britons believe the UK will have “the best superfast broadband network in Europe”, as pledged by the current Government.

654 people took part in an online survey, which provided the following results:

· 42% said they didn’t believe Britain would have the infrastructure in place to support superfast broadband by 2015

· 26% thought the claim was just political spin

· 15% expected the initiative to fail due to lack of funding

· 12% thought the scheme would fail due to other reasons

· 5% believed Britain will have the best broadband in Europe by 2015

The news comes after Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt put the pledge for superfast broadband back to 2015 from the 2012 target set by the former Government.

Mr Hunt has suggested using legislation to make Internet Service Providers open up their broadband infrastructure and share their broadband networks in a bid to meet the 2015 target.

Rob Webber, commercial director at Broadband Expert, thinks this course of action is essential if Britain is to meet the 2015 deadline: “We think that forcing the networks to open up their infrastructure is the only way Britain will have the best broadband network in Europe given the timeframe and the modest £300m budget the government has set aside for the scheme.”

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The website aims provide expert advice and information to allow consumers to make more informed decisions when purchasing broadband services.