Budget 2015 – Government Promises 100Mbps Ultrafast Broadband For ‘Nearly All’ UK

Chancellor George Osborne has promised that “nearly all” UK premises will be able to access broadband speeds of at least 100Mbps by an unspecified date.

He also pledged to invest in smart cities, the Internet of Things (IoT) and spectrum release projects as part of his 2015 Budget.

Osborne said that although 80 percent of the population could now receive superfast broadband of at least 30Mbps, ‘ultrafast’ speeds of 100Mbps would ensure the UK stays ahead in the broadband race and support a range of industries.

Existing government broadband projects are working to ensure that 95 percent of the population has access to superfast speeds of at least 30Mbps by 2015, with commercial and government-assisted rollouts currently reaching 80 percent of premises and delivering average speeds of 23Mbps.

Ultrafast goal

“We’ve transformed the digital infrastructure of Britain over the last five years,” he claimed. “Today we set out a comprehensive strategy so we stay ahead.

“We’re committing to a new national ambition to bring ultrafast broadband of at least 100 megabits per second to nearly all homes in the country, so Britain is out in front.”

It is unclear whether government funding will be provided for ultrafast rollout, what technology will be used and no timeline was provided.

The majority of the BT Openreach network uses Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), which uses copper for the final few hundred metres of the connection, but the company says speeds of 500Mbps could be available to the majority of the UK within a decade using G.Fast. Similarly, Virgin Media’s cable service already offers 152Mbps,

“George Osborne’s ambition to improve broadband infrastructure across the UK is welcome news – especially for those who, even in 2015, are blighted by a poor or non-existent broadband connection,” said Ewan Taylor-Gibson, broadband expert at uSwitch. “The proposals are an important step towards making broadband, now regarded as an essential service, available to all, rather than most.

“If the Government’s plan is to succeed in the hardest to reach areas, broadband needs to be affordable, especially for those who are isolated or vulnerable.”

Rural targets

Osborne did commit to expanding the super connected cities voucher scheme, which provides grants for SMBs to get faster connectivity, to 50 cities from April 1 after 12,600 applications since the project started.

He also said the universal service requirement would be increased to 5Mbps, helping rural areas, and pledged support for satellite broadband, which is currently being tested by Ofcom to see if it can help cover the ‘final five percent’ not covered by existing projects. Funding will also be provided for Wi-Fi in public libraries to improve access.

The Chancellor also said £600m would be spent freeing up spectrum in the 700MHz band currently used for Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) to help support future mobile data services with a view to auctioning it off during the next parliament.

IoT investment

The government says its broadband investments will help support research into smart cities and the Internet of Things (IoT).

“We’re also committing almost £140m to world class research across the UK into the infrastructure and cities of the future, and giving our national research institutes new budget freedoms,” said Osborne. “And we’ll invest in what is known as the Internet of Things. This is the next stage of the information revolution, connecting up everything from urban transport to medical devices to household appliances.

“All these industries depend on fast broadband.”

‘Google Tax’

The Chancellor has also moved to make it more difficult for multinational companies, including those in the technology sector, to avoid tax in the UK by moving profits overseas. The diverted profits tax, or ‘Google Tax’ will come into effect from April 1, and will require companies to tell HRMC if they think their structure could result in profits being moved abroad, making them liable for the tax.

This could impact the likes of Amazon and Google, who base themselves in countries where corporation tax is a lot lower in order to minimise their UK tax bill.

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