A group of MPs has slammed the government's plan to bring 2Mbps broadband to every UK resident, claiming it has "no clear definition of what it [2Mbps broadband] means".
No guarantee everyone will get 2Mbps
The 2Mbps broadband proposals were set out in the Digital Britain report, and form the basis of the Digital Economy Bill, which is currently being examined by the House of Lords and is expected to come into force later this year.
The plan is for everyone in Britain to have access to a 2Mbps internet connection by 2012.
Stephen Timms, Minister for Digital Britain, was asked by the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee to define the 2Mbps promise.
"We will give virtually everybody access to a line capable of delivering 2Mbps," he said.
"It should look and feel like a 2Mbps commitment as someone in areas served by those markets would understand it."
However, Timms then added there was no guarantee everyone would receive an actual 2Mbps connection.
"There is a degree of variability about that, but the service that is provided will be capable of delivering 2Mbps."
According to the Committee, the response was "not a helpful statement" and someone whose use is restricted to the evenings would have a very different feel of 2Mbps to someone whose use was confined to the mornings.
"We are concerned that the Government is committed to a Universal Service Commitment of 2Mbps, with a budget of £200 million, without a clear definition of what it means," the Committee said.
"We believe that the Universal Service Commitment should deliver a minimum 2Mbps under normal circumstances, to all users."
The government revealed last year it plans to pay for the 2Mbps roll-out using some of the funds collected via a 'broadband tax' that will see Brits with a telephone line charged £6 a year to fund the roll-out of 2Mbps internet access.
The Committee also slammed the tax, saying it was an "ill-directed charge".
"It will place a disproportionate cost on a majority who will not, or are unable to, reap the benefits of that charge."
See also: Facebook and Google call for changes to Digital Economy Bill
Comments
Contax said: I also live in a rural area with third world broadband sorry third world often have better than us the 6 tax is wrong there should be a fee charged on all broadband connections with an actual speed of 2mbps or more when the users with poor connections are upgraded to 2mbps they should pay the extra fee so that even more remote areas can be serviced I only wish I still had the NTL Freedom Dialup service which closed down 15 a month with first 15 of phone calls free by dialing 1263 first it was much more reliable at accessing pages on the web I have to sit constantly clicking on refresh to get it to load full page even this often fails so I cant access the page I pay the same price as those who receive better service upto 8mbps WHY Maybe HIPs on homes for sale should have to declare such things
JR Faulkner said: Those who have have no understanding for those who have not I live in a rural community BT are not at all interested in helping Talk talk have done their best and I get a 625kbps feed during the day but in the evenings or at weekends 125kbps is more the norm Yet less than two miles away are two fibre connections but no one will spend the money to install the link Some of the village cannot even get a decent dial-up connection out of sight no financial payback out of mind Tough If we wanted to put a fibre connection in the cost so far we have been given is 16000mile where can a small village get that sort of money plus BT want a minimum of 5000 just to make the connection So those who are complaining about a TAX of 6 per year grow up
digital britian ? said: they use the whole broadband for everyone excuse but realy it is just an excuse for the ever reaching arm of government to make its way on to the internet and start taking over dns and whatever else they can always in the disguise of good intentions but the fine print will take your rights away say no to more laws
Cyteck said: This is clearly a totally unfair tax because it taxes those who wont benefit from the money thats being taken from them Secondly the 2meg proposed speed is utterly pathetic amp shows that this government has no real long term vision for the future of a UK digital infrastructure I would have been more impressed amp therefore more willing to pay the tax if it was to ensure everyone would receive a minimum speed of 50megs or more Our future is definitely going to depend on play digital catch up with other countries who have faster web access because they invested millions in a high quality telecoms infra-structure and didnt leave it too the vagaries of the market Its requires government investment no matter what anyone says if it is ever to become a reality