According to the European Commission, Internet data traffic is growing by 60% every year. We already rely on the Internet to deliver many essential services but we rely upon the availability of ever faster broadband.
In June 2010 the Government said its goal was for the UK to have "the best superfast broadband network in Europe" by 2015, and talked about most of the country gaining access to superfast broadband speeds. In a keynote speech at the National Digital Conference today, culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said the ambition of the coalition is for 90 per cent of the UK to have access to broadband of at least 25Mbps by 2015.
This is not a pledge it is an ambition. It is important to make that distinction particularly at a time when what we all assumed to be pledges in manifestos turn out to be less substantial. Actually it relies upon Local Authorities bidding for money to make it happen. So, if you live in an area where the local administration is forward looking and understands the vital importance of broadband infrastructure you might be in with a chance. On the other hand, if your councillors are sitting around waiting for those manufacturing jobs to come back you might be unlucky. If you think the balance between those two poles will lead to 90% coverage by 2015 I envy your optimism.
If you sit outside the “superfast footprint” – and an estimated 10% of homes and businesses do - you will be guaranteed access to at least 2Mbps broadband by 2015, a “target” inherited from the last Government.
In Europe - in a move designed to enrage readers of the Daily Express (not difficult) - the first phase of a €600 million public-private partnership on the Internet of the Future has been launched by the European Commission. This partnership will support innovation in Europe and help businesses and governments to develop internet solutions that will be capable of managing an exponential increase in online data.
Currently Europe is pretty slow, particularly by Asian standards. The data box shows figures from Akamai's State of the Internet 2011 report. Umea is the fastest city in Europe on average, but it is only 20th in their global rankings which are dominated by South Korea and Japan.
The EU 2020 target is internet speeds of 30 Mbps or above for all European citizens, with half European households subscribing to connections of 100Mbps or higher. Currently only 1% of Europeans have a fast fibre-based internet connection, compared to 12% of Japanese and 15% of South Koreans. However, rather than relying upon Local Authorities, the EU is approaching the problem through attractive credit for broadband providers.
This, combined with tools that will be developed by the partnership, looks to be a significantly more solid way of meeting those broadband targets.
