In a scathing news item in today’s Times, the study is effectively dismissed as a failure. Recalling the caustic editorials for which the newspaper earned the sobriquet The Thunderer of Fleet Street, the writer gives it to Lord Carter with both barrels.

Among other things, the man helming the study is castigated for failing to reach an agreement over spectrum with mobile broadband providers. And he’s also in the firing line for apparently not delivering a coherent roadmap for the delivery of a next-gen, fibre optic broadband network.

We’ll be reserving judgment until such time as the official findings are published. But we’re sure of one thing. In the wake of the flak Lord Carter is copping already, is it any wonder he’s absconding to a job in the private sector?