The government should make an effort not to "crowd out" private investment into next-generation broadband, says a senior figure within Ofcom.

Speaking at the Next Generation Broadband conference in Westminster, partner for strategy and market developments, Peter Phillips, said that there is little need in major public investment for high-speed broadband investment in high-speed fibre-optic broadband.

He suggested that the government should concentrate on putting money into areas of the market which would be unpopular for private investors, but that the general public would still benefit from.

"The public sector should consider action to implement private investment but not crowd it out," said Mr Phillips.

Meanwhile, conference chair Nick Palmer MP put forward his view that, initially, the level of public demand for high bandwidth services will determine the amount of private investment.