UK Government promises 25Mbit/s broadband for 90 per cent of UK by 2015

The UK government has promised to deliver superfast broadband of at least 25Mbit/s to 90 percent of homes and businesses by 2015 as it seeks to turbo-charge the nation's digital infrastructure.

The pledge was made by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt during a speech on May 12 at Race Online 2012, in which he argued that investment in broadband is critical in allowing the UK to compete with other leading Internet nations. "If we press ahead with expansion of superfast capabilities we can put the UK in the global fast lane. If we fail to do so we apply a handbrake to growth precisely when we need to power ahead," he said. The promise follows earlier plans to ensure a minimum of 2Mbit/s for all by 2015, part-funded by an investment of £530m from the government to see that people in areas not serviced by ISPs are not left behind. "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 setting out how they will deliver this level of ambition," Hunt said. Hunt also revealed that Ofcom is to publish a league table of the broadband performance of each local authority in the UK to let people see how connectivity is progressing in their region.