Superfast broadband for 90% Britain by 2015: Jeremy Hunt

Entire country to have 2Mbps broadband in four years

UK Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said that 90% of Britain will have superfast broadband with minimum speeds of 25Mbps by 2015.

Speaking at a conference in London, Hunt said that broadband speeds of 2Mbps should be available across the country by 2015, adding that 90% of homes and business will have access to superfast broadband of 25Mbps or better.

Last month, cloud computing and content delivery company Akamai Technologies put the UK behind most countries in broadband penetration in a report. In its fourth quarter 2010 State of the Internet report of growth in global broadband speeds and mobile data consumption, Akamai Technologies had only one British city, Bradford, at 99, in its global top 100.

Hunt told the conference, "If we press ahead with expansion of superfast capabilities, then we can put the UK in the global fastlane."

Hunt urged local authorities to draw plans to implement the goal.

He said, "We have set aside the money and the expertise to make this happen. Now local authorities need to step up to the plate by bringing forward their own plans and setting out how they will deliver this level of ambition."

Hunt has said in the past that the government is committed to get Britain the best superfast broadband infrastructure in Europe by the end of the current parliament.

UK Communication Minister Ed Vaizey has also said that creating the super-fast broadband network will help improve the economic and social prospects of the homes and businesses where high-speed Internet access remains just a dream.

Vaizey said, "The Government is investing over £500m in taking superfast broadband to everyone."

The EU universal broadband program has a target to ensure that all Europeans have access to 30Mbps Internet speeds by 2020 and 50% households have access to 100Mbps or higher.

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