Will We All Have Fast Internet By 2020?

David Cameron has pledged fast broadband access for all by 2020.

16:54 09 November 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged fast broadband access to all UK homes and business by 2020. He is set to introduce a “universal service obligation” for broadband, giving the public a legal right to request an “affordable” connection. This means that broadband will become a basic service just like water and electricity.

 

Mr Cameron aims to provide users, regardless of their location, a speed of at least 10Mbps.

 

"Access to the internet shouldn't be a luxury, it should be a right - absolutely fundamental to life in 21st Century Britain," he said.

 

"Just as our forebears effectively brought gas, electricity and water to all, we're going to bring fast broadband to every home and business that wants it.

 

"We're getting Britain - all of Britain - online, and on the way to becoming the most prosperous economy in the whole of Europe."

 

According to officials, 83per cent of homes and business in Britain has access to superfast broadband connection (24Mbps) and the number is expected to increase by 95per cent by 2017.

 

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We want to upgrade the universal service obligation to provide fast broadband speeds of 10Mbps for the very hardest to reach homes and businesses. Those at the end of the line, the last 5% that we are desperate to get to.

 

"So we're putting in place this regulation, that we're going to consult on at the beginning of next year, to make sure that if you're in that last 5%, you can demand, and you'll get it."