Government plans to inject funds into the digital and communications industries are due to be outlined at 12:15 today. Combined, the industries inject an estimated £50bn a year to the UK economy and the interim digital report will outline areas such as broadband development, public service broadcasting and digital radio. Broadband speeds and coverage will no doubt be high on the agenda with many reports stating that broadband coverage will span across the entire country by the time the Olympics stroll into town. This is no doubt good news to those living in rural areas of the UK but with such a large area to cover in such a short amount of time, is it a realistic ambition that people living in rural areas will be able to stream live video of the 2012 games to their PC with no interruption?
Fast broadband for all by 2012?
Some experts have estimated the project could cost up to £3.5bn, that’s a lot of money in any economic climate let alone the one we are in now. So is it up to the industry suppliers to shoulder some of the cost? After all, it’s their hip pockets that will be benefiting at the end of the day. Internet hours will undoubtedly multiply whilst demand for higher speeds will be greater than ever.
So to look into the crystal ball towards 2012; Virgin Media’s 50Mb broadband will long be a thing of the past, people living in the far corners of the UK will have reliable, speedy internet connections, and England to top the gold medal count?