As UK Broadband Falls Behind, Government Sets Dubious Goal
As we head further into the 21st century, internet users here in Southport, and in all of the UK for that matter, are falling further and further behind the times. We’re suffering from an ageing infrastructure that was built well before the advent of the internet, and it shows. Of course, that situation is by no means unique. Most developed nations have struggled with this problem over the last decade, but here at home, the response has been, shall we say, a little lacklustre.
Right now, we rank just 35th in the world in average broadband speed, clocking in at an anaemic 18.57 Mbps. That’s part of the reason that the government has announced a scheme to do everything in its power to replace our ageing copper infrastructure with new fibre optic cabling, including setting the bold goal of having fibre to everywhere in the UK by 2033. If that sounds good to you, you’re not alone. If it also sounds familiar, however, you may be harbouring some reservations.
Although the government isn’t proposing a full national broadband strategy just yet, they are estimating that it’s going to take between 3 to 5 billion pounds of public investment to meet their targets in the specified timeframe. The problem with those numbers, however, is that they likely assume a best-case scenario. For comparison’s sake, consider Australia’s National Broadband Network scheme. Initially, the ambitious, full fibre network was expected to cost $29 billion (AUD) and deliver only the best unlimited broadband service nationwide – but it has since ballooned to $51 billion with still no end in sight. That’s a pretty steep price tag that would have probably made the plan a non-starter, had it been known in advance. It does highlight, though, how quickly cost overruns can happen when dealing with technology infrastructure investments.
Besides the costs, whatever they end up to be in the long term, there’s also reason to wonder if any of the government’s talk will lead anywhere at all. After all, it’s not as though this is the first time they’ve made bold promises about fixing our internet infrastructure to bring the nation back to parity with our European neighbours. All the way back in 2012, then Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt was insisting that the government was committed to delivering the fastest tv and broadband of any major European country by 2015. Now, in 2018, we’ve not only failed to see any of those promises come to fruition, but we’ve since fallen even further behind. How far behind? Suffice to say that you’d stand a better chance of having a decent online experience in Madagascar.
Here in Southport, we’re relatively lucky when it comes to internet speeds. On average, residents here have connections that hover between 30 and 45 Mbps or at least have the ability to purchase that level of service. That means that we can afford to take a wait-and-see approach to the most recent iteration of the government’s broadband commitments. Other Britons, however, aren’t so lucky. For those on the low end of the British broadband spectrum, the clock is already ticking, and they’re at risk of being left behind. If progress isn’t made soon, though, it won’t be too long before we all begin to join them.
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