The government has announced that by 2020, UK citizens will have the legal right to demand faster broadband of at least 10 Mbsps.
Broadband providers will have to legally provide this standard to anyone requesting it, subject to a cost threshold.
Regulator Ofcom announced 4% of UK premises don’t access broadband speeds of at least 10 Mbps, with almost 230,000 unable to get a “decent” service.
Matt Hancock, minister of state for digital, said on the BBC’s Today programme: “Access means you can phone up somebody, ask for it and then someone has the legal duty to deliver on that promise.
‘Making broadband available to everyone’
“It is about having the right to demand it, so it will be an on-demand programme.
“So if you don’t go on the internet, aren’t interested, then you won’t phone up and demand this.”
In response to the announcement, BT said: “BT and Openreach want to get on with the job of making decent broadband available to everyone in the UK, so we’ll continue to explore the commercial options for bringing faster speeds to those parts of the country which are hardest to reach.”
Written by Leah Alger
