A new government target aimed at increasing the number of UK subscribers to broadband has been revealed, with plans to get an additional seven million people connected at high speeds within the next four years.

The Digital Participation Plan was laid out by Stephen Timms, who is the minister at the helm of the government’s Digital Britain initiative. It hopes to reduce the number of people who do not currently have broadband connections by 60 per cent. This is a fairly ambitious plan since that figure currently stands at 12.5 million.

Mr Timms is hoping that the groups who will be helped by the campaign will be those on lower incomes and the elderly, as both are typically ignored by traditional broadband advertising, or put off by the high cost of certain services.

A total of 60 organisations from the public and private sector are set to become involved with the Digital Participation Plan, which should mean that it will have a significant impact around the country. It should make BT broadband options more affordable and attractive to those who have not jumped on the broadband bandwagon.

Access to the internet at broadband speeds is considered to be essential for active participation in the modern era, at both a commercial and cultural level, according to Mr Timms.

The creative and communicative potential offered by broadband is at the heart of the new initiative’s ideology and the initiative will hopefully eradicate the disparity between those who are currently connected and those who are unable to, for whatever reason.

Simple Broadband’s Communication Manager Simon Gerrard said “It is great to see the government getting enthusiastic about broadband, as it is becoming an integral part of our society. BT broadband options are an obvious point at which a potential broadband customer can start to understand the current offerings, although comparing the market for the best deal is the optimum way in which to save money in the longer run.”

It looks as though the roll out of fibre optic broadband will be hastened if regional businesses are able to unite and commit to support, after the heads of businesses in Dorset announced that they would be backing plans within their area.

A local Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism which encompasses leaders from around Weymouth and Portland has revealed that it will be firmly in favour of speeding along the proposed installation of fibre optic cable broadband, which had been intended to coincide with the London Olympics in 2012.

This new deal will of course allow the fibre optic network to be retained after the Olympics has come and gone and businesses will supply the custom necessary to ensure its continued financial viability.

A local newspaper said that there was still time for businesses and home owners to pledge their support for the plans via a survey, which will be open until the end of the month.

Nigel Reed, who presides over the Chamber of Commerce, said in an interview that the most significant goal they are aiming to achieve is the retention of fibre optic technology that will link local telephone exchanges. However, any lack of demand could mean that telecoms companies would be hesitant about offering high speed broadband after the Olympics conclude in 2012.

Mr Reed also confirmed that he and his fellow businesspeople would be backing the plans in their area, seeing it as one of the key benefits of hosting the Olympic games.

Simple Broadband’s Communications Manager Simon Gerrard added that “businesses can really benefit from fibre optic broadband connections with BT business broadband packages and those of other providers expected to be vastly improved in the wake of the fibre optic broadband roll out.”

A new consultation between the government and the public has been initiated in order to find out just what it is that the average citizen wants from their internet connection over the next decade.

There is a one billion pound fund available to help kick start developments and improvements and the debate is certain to centre on the question as to whether high speed broadband should be provided to suburban dwellers first, or whether universal availability of basic broadband is a more pressing issue.

The problems facing the telecoms industry are those of market demand versus profitability. In densely populated areas there is a high likelihood of fibre optic broadband and LTE Mobile Broadband becoming available without government intervention, but rural areas are less attractive because of the high costs of setup compounded by the relatively sparse customer numbers.

Whatever decisions are made over the next few years, the economic impact of broadband technology is going to be significant. The London School of Economics predicts that if public and private sectors invest five billion pounds in the development of next-generation broadband networks, over a quarter of a million new jobs would be created and businesses of all sizes would benefit.

Over the next few years, BT broadband deals are expected to be able to offer fibre optic cable connections to between 50 and 70 per cent of the population and the government has targeted 2017 as the year in which next-gen coverage must reach 90 per cent in order for the work to be deemed a success.

Business secretary Lord Mandelson pointed out that Virgin Media was already offering half the country the chance of connecting at 50Mbps, but that the new consultation, the large public fund at the government’s disposal and higher speed BT broadband deals would help to significantly improve broadband internet coverage.

The Digital Britain report and the Digital Economy Bill are still the cause of significant debate within the mobile broadband industry. Although some discussion focuses as to whether wireless broadband prices will fall as mobile broadband becomes more popular, it is the policy of disconnection as punishment for those who download files illegally and breach copyright legislation which has stirred up the greatest public interest.

Petitions, protests and political showdowns have surrounded the plans to cut off repeat file sharing offenders, but it seems that in practice, enforcing these measures against mobile broadband customers could be much more difficult than anticipated.

It has emerged that industry experts recognise the threat posed to home broadband users, whose online activities are easily traceable back to their own property thanks to the process by which IP addresses are assigned. However, since mobile broadband users all access the web via a single public IP address, targeting anyone individually for downloading copyrighted material would be completely impossible.

It is weaknesses and loopholes like this that have virtually destroyed public confidence in the viability of the Digital Economy Bill. It seems that wireless broadband prices are set to continue their downward trend as many more people sign up for mobile broadband and mobile data use becomes far more common for mobile phone owners as well.

Although protests currently surrounding the bill are aimed to protect the rights of households with multiple users, with the misdemeanours of a single member possibly resulting in a suspension of broadband service affecting everyone under the same roof, there is a possibility that the anonymity offered by mobile broadband could result in a file sharing exodus to the wireless platform. In the past, file sharing over mobile broadband was infeasible because of stringent data limits, but with providers such as Orange offering uncapped services between 12pm-6pm the chance of increased file sharing activity is growing.

Jeremy Hunt, shadow secretary for the Conservative party, caused a stir when speaking at the London School of Economics earlier in the week. The senior Tory politician revealed that a Conservative government would focus public investment in providing cheap cable broadband and faster ADSL connections to the major cities of the UK.

The news was greeted with understandable frustration by those living in rural areas where broadband coverage is poor and broadband speeds are a fraction of those available to people living in densely populated areas.

Commentators have recognised that the strategy could be aimed at winning votes amongst those living and working in cities where broadband is seen as integral to economic growth.

It is possible that this strategy, which deviates from current government plans looking for dual investment from taxpayers’ money and the telecoms industry, could eventually work in favour of those living in rural areas. The Conservatives would charge those adopting the high speed connection in the cities a higher monthly rate in order to, later, allow for increased investment in better broadband speeds and coverage around the UK.

It is likely that such a plan would be greeted with significant support from businesses, allowing them to implement home working schemes for staff during adverse weather or pandemics such as the ongoing Swine Flu outbreak.

For residential customers living in urban areas, the impact could be less desirable. With the new faster connections costing more, an imbalance of broadband speeds could be driven by income, with the universal availability of cheap cable broadband a distant dream.

Although the Conservative plans for the future of broadband in the UK are of interest to many, speculation and the discussion of specific plans are seen to be pointless at this time. It is only after next year’s general election that the any new policies will be implemented.

According to a broadband expert, it is unlikely that fixed line broadband connections will ever be replaced or superseded by the mobile broadband alternatives. The comments were made by Edd Dawson, the editor of a UK broadband specialist site, although Dawson is not alone in questioning the viability and sustainability of mobile broadband services.

The reasoning behind the argument is that consumers will continue to purchase mobile broadband only as a supplementary connection to their existing fixed line service. This is because mobile broadband costs are comparatively higher than fixed line equivalents, whilst real speeds have been revealed in a recent survey to be far lower than most manufacturers are willing to admit.

Dawson likens the continued relevance of home broadband to the fate of desktop PCs, which in the face of stiff competition from laptops and netbooks are still managing to sell well. Laptops, like mobile broadband, are considered to be ideal for casual and occasional use, but not as a replacement for a powerful desktop PC with a fast home broadband connection.

It is believed that the same theory can be applied across the whole spectrum of users, with home owners as well as businesses sticking with the reliability and availability of fixed line broadband whilst complimenting this connection with the roaming capabilities of mobile broadband.

The future of mobile broadband as a primary connection has been further brought into question due to the wider availability of cheap cable broadband in the UK. Cable has several advantages over both ADSL and mobile broadband and with its faster and more consistent connection speeds it is likely to continue to grow in popularity.

Cheap cable broadband may also become more widely available as BT develops its fibre networks, in competition with the current kings of cable, Virgin Media.

The future is, of course, hard to predict as anyone who remembers similar reservations directed at car phones in the 1980s will attest.

A report from Cisco has said that broadband quality and reach in the UK ranks just 25^th in a worldwide league table.

This may sound like bad news, especially when considering some of the less developed countered higher up the table. However, Cisco has made it clear that the UK?s broadband network is adequate for today?s requirements but, more importantly, that its position is likely to improve.

Broadly speaking we agree with this assessment. The increase in fibre networks and the Digital Britain project will vastly improve provision of broadband in the UK such that it will be able to keep pace with the ever increasing requirements of the broadband users in the UK.