UK Government to Grant Legal Right to High-Speed Broadband by 2020
20 December 2017 - 10:18PM
Dow Jones News
By Adria Calatayud
The U.K. government said Wednesday that broadband with a speed
of at least 10 megabytes a second will become a legal right in the
country by 2020 through a universal service obligation, or USO.
An offer made by BT Group PLC (BT.A.LN) to bring high-speed
broadband to over a million rural homes was rejected by the U.K.
government, as it said the proposal wasn't strong enough. However,
the government added that it welcomes BT's continued investment to
deliver broadband to all parts of the U.K.
Only a regulatory USO offers sufficient certainty and the legal
enforceability that is required to ensure high-speed broadband
access across the country, the U.K. government said. Under the
scheme, broadband providers will have a legal requirement to give
speed of at least 10 megabytes a second to anyone requesting it,
subject to a cost threshold.
The system will work in the same way the universal service right
to a landline telephone does, the U.K. government added.
Early next year, the U.K. government will set out the legal
design for the right to high-speed broadband and, once the
legislation is laid out, implementation is expected to take two
years, it said.
Write to Adria Calatayud at
adria.calatayudvaello@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 20, 2017 06:03 ET (11:03 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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