Ofcom Back Broadband USO For Digital Britain Plans

Ofcom boss Ed Richards has backed the introduction of a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband, stating that it may even help to improve broadband speeds too.

It was Lord Carter, the Communications Minister and creator of the Digital Britain Report, who suggested that the introduction of a broadband USO would significantly help to improve broadband coverage within the UK.

Currently there is a USO obliging BT to connect every household to a landline, so the plan would be to extend this to broadband services aswell ensuring a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps.

Mr Richards said, “I think a broadband USO will make a significant contribution to filling in those gaps of availability and speed for a good basic level of service and this is a priority.”

Mr Richards continued, “There is almost no overstating how important it is to make sure we have the right circumstances for the next generation of broadband.”

As a follow up to his comments, the Country Land and Business Association stated that they were “delighted” that “the true picture of digital exclusion” had been addressed.

It is the people who live in more rural areas of the UK who have the main connection issues with more than 1,000 homes still having no broadband access.

Whilst the USO will not provide faster speeds directly, it will certainly help to lay the groundwork. A new generation of broadband access does need to be introduced and a USO takes this one step forward – with support from experts in the field.