September 2, 2009 - Digital Britain

The recently published Digital Britain Report has been widely condemned by the UK’s leading technology experts, including Patrick Kingsley-Williams, managing director of Wrexham based independent technology solutions specialist mwl, who criticises the report for its lack of business benefits.

Although the contents of the report are consumer-focused, it was expected to incorporate proposals that would benefit business, particularly those in the technology sector.

The main points included in the document were the government’s aim to achieve universal broadband access with a speed of at least 2mbps by 2012, with the introduction of a small levy on fixed lines to help deliver this, and the upgrade of all national radio stations to digital by 2015.

Patrick Kingsley-Williams, Managing Director of mwl, commented: “The aim to roll out 2mbps broadband speed is an incredibly modest ambition, while news of the broadband levy will be seen by both businesses and the public as another stealth tax.

“The Government needs to encourage a lot more competition in terms of broadband provision. In a market dominated by BT, the Government needs to set ISP’s against each other to encourage competition and bring down costs.”