Turning Japanese, Staying British
According to the (ITIF), British broadband is among , with an average connection speed of just 2.6Mbps, placing it below countries including Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Holland.
Finland topped the study, which takes into account 16 countries, with an average connection speed of 21.7Mbps - eight times higher than the UK average.
Globally, Japan leads the way, both in terms of speed and price.
[Image of 3.6Mbps 1円 courtesy of .]
According to the ITU, in its Internet Reports (admittedly last year, but I don’t think much has changed), Britain had the eleventh fastest (on average) broadband speed globally, behind most of the G8 and, surprisingly, behind Kazakhstan.
What is the Â鶹Éç's role in helping to address this? What services and/or interventions (if any) should we make?
Does Freeview offer an example? The UK is now world leading in digital TV takeup and choice after the Â鶹Éç’s revival of Digital Terrestrial TV after DTT failed twice as OnDigital and ITVDigital.
How can the Â鶹Éç help deliver greater broadband penetration, speeds and takeup, helping to narrow the digital divide between the technologically savvy haves and the internet-deprived have-nots (not all of whom, by any means see themselves as "deprived")?
It's a subject I've raised before, but Mark's comment on one of my previous posts on the digital divide in the UK asked another question: whether there is another "digital divide" between the Â鶹Éç's role as provider of content, and its role to drive universal access to all sorts of digital services.
I don't think so.
In fact, I think this duality of purpose goes to the heart of the Â鶹Éç's mission: create great content for the enjoyment of the individual, and help drive universal usage for the betterment of society.
Indeed, it's enshrined in the Purposes as laid out by the Queen and Parliament in the Â鶹Éç's Royal Charter (and regulated by the Â鶹Éç Trust):
- sustaining citizenship and civil society
- promoting education and learning
- stimulating creativity and cultural excellence
- representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities
- bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK
- in promoting its other purposes, helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services and, in addition, taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.
Ashley Highfield is Director, Â鶹Éç Future Media & Technology.
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