The next general election is due to take place in 2010, with rumours suggesting that it may occur at some point in May. As a result, politicians from all parties are beginning to make promises in an attempt to win votes and the Conservatives have recently announced that they plan to implement fibre optic broadband across the UK by 2017, with download speeds of 100Mbps accessible to a majority of consumers.

George Osborne, who is currently the shadow chancellor, said that his party would use the BBC licence fee to fund the continued growth of fibre optic broadband if it was voted into power. Mr Osborne also said that his party would push for offering fibre optic broadband in remote areas, relying on both private and public funding to ensure that the targets were met.

Mr Osborne compared the roll out of fibre optic broadband to the building of the railways when speaking in an interview on the Andrew Marr show. He said that hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created by better connectivity options, in the same way that the economy grew as a result of rail transport in the 19th century.

A spokesperson for Labour said that the Conservatives were not really proposing anything new with their announcements, but rather affirming their commitment to the government’s existing plans to make 2017 the deadline for universal high speed broadband connectivity. The Lib Dems also raised questions, but were concerned as to how the project would be funded.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager, Simon Gerrard, added that “whatever your political allegiances, it is definitely a positive step forward, showing that all of the parties are committed to extending high speed broadband across the UK, expanding upon current BT broadband options.”