Home: Posted: 17th August 2010

Digital Britain

Digital Britain is short hand for 'The Digital Economy Act', a group began by the government of the United Kingdom. The group was started in the year two thousand and eight, in the month of October. The remit of the act was to keep the UK instep with digital technological advances, with the goal of leading the global digital communications industry.

The stand out goals of the group,

1. One hundred percent broadband coverage by 2012.

2. The minimum download speed should be two Mbit/s by 2012.

The goals stated above were issued on the twenty ninth of January, 2009. Many experts believe the these goals will be hard to achieve. Not only that, compared to other countries, research by companies, like Akamai, have suggested that the UK is falling behind other countries. The likes of South Korea and Finland could have average speeds which are fifty times faster than the UK's.

The group has recently been shutdown. Their final report was issued on the sixteenth of June, 2009. The goals of the group have been passed on to other government departments. As we speak, the final findings of the group, in regard to broadband, are as follows,

1. Universal urban and rural broadband access by 2012.

2. Create funding for super fast broadband technology.

3. Expand the 3G technology for mobile broadband access.

4. Create policy to increase broadband usage amongst low usage social groups.

The Digital Economy Act was concerned by the social exclusion of people from low income backgrounds and rural areas, from accessing fast broadband speeds.