UK Government's Words on Broadband Speeds not Matched by Action

With an increasing number of businesses demanding super-fast broadband connections, it is perhaps time that funding issues were addressed.

Where the money will come from to provide such a major project is undecided, noted Andrew Ferguson, editor at thinkbroadband.com, but companies are starting to get impatient.

One of the options would be to take money from the "general tax pot", he suggested, as this would mean the Treasury does not have to look elsewhere to secure funding.

"Relaxing various things, like business rates on fibre, would boost the desire of firms to put more fibre in the local loop and would give fibre coverage above the expected 60 per cent," he explained.

However, with plans to roll-out broadband facilities to 90 per cent of the population, Mr Ferguson doubts whether this would be possible through this method.

Firms will have to be patient if they want the lowest-priced broadband possible, as an immediate deployment is likely to prove a costly venture, the expert claimed.

European Parliament recently said 50 per cent of EU households should be connected to very high-speed broadband internet networks by 2015.