Will Britain get Europe's best broadband?

By the end of this parliament, Britain “should boast the best superfast broadband in Europe, and be up there with the very best in the world.” That was the target set by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt within weeks of taking power. Eighteen months on, Britain appears to be further than ever from Hunt’s lofty – and suspiciously vague – target.

In 2010, the Government announced a broadband investment package of £530 million, with a further £120 million added to the pot in the chancellor’s autumn statement in 2011, but will that be enough to deliver the best broadband in Europe in only three years’ time? Few in the industry are convinced. There are also serious doubts over whether the UK’s targets – 90% of the population on superfast (24Mbits/sec+) broadband by 2015, with a universal service commitment (USC) of 2Mbits/sec – are achievable, future-proof or fair.