Britain needs faster broadband

Faster broadband will be key to ensuring Britain's future competitiveness, according to the Minister for Competitiveness Stephen Timms.

The minister from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was speaking at a broadband summit this week where leading UK telecoms companies were discussing ways to deliver ultra high speed broadband.

Timms, who is MP for East Ham, pointed to Virgin Media's move towards launching a 50Mbits/sec service next year. The cable giant is already trialling the service which Timms described as "an important stride towards full next generation access in the UK which others will want to match".

However, in order to deliver this and faster speeds, an emerging consensus from the summit included the need to collaborate across industry, government and the public sector. The summit also agreed to develop a vision statement to set the context for future investment and priorities.

Commenting on the outcome of the summit, Timms said: "I am pleased that general agreement was reached at the meeting for drawing up a vision statement for the future of broadband. It was a constructive and open discussion which anticipated the demand for reliably faster and more symmetrical broadband.

"It is my job to bring people together so that this need can be met. Ultra-fast broadband is going to be a key future technology that will allow our businesses to innovate, grow and create wealth. In this age of information sharing and knowledge, communications systems lie at the heart, underpinning everything that we do.

"If we delay in putting this new network into place, it could be a barrier to the future success of our economy. We must ensure that our industry stays ahead and is well placed to make the most of the high-tech, knowledge-based economy."

Timms said he intended to call a further meeting in about six months' time.