Britain’s government had been deliberating on giving out state aid towards high-speed broadband. However, in February, the Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, launched a review. The review board was headed by Franceso Caio, and the results will be presented in Autumn, to Chancellor Alistair Darling, and to ministers.

The review does not seem to be in favor of the state funding. After a thorough review of Britain’s broadband infrastructure, there is no reason to believe that it will suffer without the proposed state funding, said Caio. He also stated that the competitiveness of the current digital market will not be impaired in any way. There was no need for intervention by the state, and Caio advised that the government should allow the market to take care of the enhancement and development of high-speed broadband network.

Caio said further, that it will be futile to put out £15bn investment on broadband uk networks. There are already other technologies like wireless that could adequately provide the necessary connectivity. There is actually no cause for alarm, as the UK is still one of the leading markets in Europe. The UK can boast of having the most e-transactions in Europe, and the internet economy as a whole is flourishing.

To sum it all up, it is true that some European counterparts are already on their way to next-generation access. Nonetheless, there is no reason for Britain to be concerned. The current infrastructure is more than adequate to meet the need. Furthermore, it is evident that competitors are already embarking on plans to deploy next-generation access. There is no need therefore to risk Britain’s economy falling behind, if it were to invest £15bn in high-speed broadband. There exists no significant gap in the competitiveness of this market.