[isp review] George Osborne, Chancellor of the coalition UK government, confirmed yesterday that Wednesday's (20th October 2010) spending cuts announcement will not affect its weak commitment to bring a minimum broadband internet download speed of 2Mbps (Megabits per second) to every household in the country by 2015.
The feared Spending Review will seek to eliminate the country's £109bn structural deficit within just 4 years, which requires Osborne to make some dramatic cuts (total £83bn) right across all government departments.
The 2Mbps Universal Service Commitment (USC) and future "super-fast" Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband telecoms projects appear to have been largely unaffected. However Ofcom will have its wings clipped, albeit mostly in the broadcasting (TV, radio and media) department; telecoms and internet regulation were deemed too important and thus remain intact.
Osborne also confirmed on Sunday that £230m had been set aside to help 2 Million UK homes in rural areas get access to faster broadband speeds by 2015, which appears to include both NGA spending and USC plans.
By contrast the previous Labour government set aside £200m just for the USC. However the new governments communications minister, Ed Vaizey, recently warned that the USC's cost would be "at least double" the previous administrations best estimate.
UK Chancellor Confirms GBP230m for Universal Faster Broadband Coverage
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