Marginalised communities 'should get super-fast broadband first'

4 September 2008

Customers living in areas that have missed out on first-generation broadband should be the first to benefit from super-fast services, it has been suggested. According to an Ofcom advisory group, excluded areas should "leapfrog" to next-generation broadband so that residents can enjoy what they have so far been unable to. The Consumer Panel said it was vital to concentrate on these areas first in order to prevent the so called digital divide from widening further. Its Chair Anna Bradley said: "We already know that the economic case for next-generation access will not stack up in some areas and we can predict which areas that will be. So let's address these issues alongside commercial roll-out, not after it." Her comments come after BT announced plans to deliver super-fast broadband to ten million UK homes by 2012. Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 35% of UK households still do not have access to broadband.

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