Britain's internet target still years away

BRITAIN is at least five years away from the current Government target of universal access to the internet but several other countries are already making strides to achieving this.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Nov 2010, 21:07 BST
Updated 26th Nov 2010, 21:07 BST

Finland has recently introduced a Universal Service Obligation, which means any company looking to sell broadband must be able to demonstrate that it is able to provide broadband access anywhere in the country.

A system of grants and subsidies from the Finish Government has also allowed networks to meet the increased costs in rural areas.

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Italy also intends to introduce a similar legal requirement by the end of the year while Spain plans to launch one in January.

A recent application by Germany to access more than 100m worth of European money to research incentives for private operators to offer affordable broadband services in rural areas proved successful

France's government conducted a survey in 2003 which identified 3,000 "not spots" around its countryside and has since built up a track record of subsidising network operator costs for these areas.

Norway has established a scheme to fund installation of broadband where there is an insufficient business case.

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Further afield, schemes of attaching fibre optic cable to telegraph and electricity pylons has proved successful in rural parts of the USA and the US Congress last year provided $7.2 bn in economic stimulus funding to support broadband deployment.

Last night Australia's senate announced a 22bn high-speed national broadband network. The government says it aims to connect 93 percent of the population by 2017

Related topics:BritainFinlandSpainGermanyItalyFranceUSA