Broadband Britain: Rhetoric vs Reality

In February 2001 the Government set the UK a goal - "to have the most extensive and competitive broadband market in the G7 by 2005"¹. The E-envoy's UK Online Action Plan² set out a blueprint for achieving this, and the Government appointed Broadband Stakeholders Group was tasked with making implementation recommendations. Despite these efforts, in terms of broadband penetration the UK currently ranks a dismal 22 out of the 30 OECD countries³. To date, the Government's efforts have largely focused on stimulating consumer demand for broadband services. Many argue, however, that the root cause of broadband's failure to thrive lies within the UK regulatory regime.

This article considers key regulatory aspects of two broadband case studies from the telecoms sector, and one from digital broadcasting, and draws some lessons for the forthcoming 'converged' Communications Bill regulatory regime.