The first step towards a legally enforceable Universal Service Obligation (USO) for superfast broadband has been announced. It would end the discrimination felt by homes and businesses across the English and Welsh countryside.
The CLA, who has welcomed this announcement, has called on Ministers to put the obligation, which amounts to a legal right for homes and businesses to receive superfast broadband (minimum 10 megabits per second), into legislation as soon as possible.
It has also warned against allowing the telecoms industry to delay and complicate a legal right that must be clear, simple and enforceable.
The comments come following the publication of a consultation led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that sets out the first step in delivering on the Prime Minister’s pledge to implement the USO from 2020.
CLA Vice President Mark Bridgeman said: “This consultation on technical issues is an important step to delivering on the Prime Minister’s pledge to end the discrimination and exclusion felt by people that live and work in the countryside.
“Currently only half of rural homes and businesses can receive broadband of 10Mbps versus 96 percent in urban areas.
“We will urge Ministers and the regulator Ofcom to stick to the core principle. The universal service must operate clearly as a ‘legal right to affordable broadband'.
“It must allow those that are not provided with access to broadband a simple means of seeking financial redress, which they can use to find an alternative means of getting connected.
“The consultation refers to the technical challenges and differences between a broadband USO and USOs such as for fixed line telephone services.
“We agree these differences exist but they should not be overemphasised. There is a big risk of allowing telecom industry lawyers and lobbyists to pore over the detail, seeking to obfuscate and water down what has to be a simple and easily enforceable law.”
