Tories to pledge 'fastest broadband' in Europe
submitted by markodonoghue on 12 March 2010
The Conservatives have pledged to give Britain the fastest high speed broadband network in Europe if they win the general election. This sounds very inviting but what is said and what is done are pretty much two different things, but that could change. The Conservative party say their plans will boost business and create jobs.
The Tories say they want the next generation of firms like Microsoft and Google to be created in the UK. The party has said it will deliver broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to most homes by 2017. Research suggests the majority of broadband customers currently get between 3Mbps and 4.5Mbps. The government wants to ensure everyone can get at least 2Mbps by 2012.
The Conservatives say if they win power at the general election which is expected to be held on 6th May, then Britain "will be the first country in Europe to extend super-fast 100 Mbps broadband across most of the population". They will also pledge to publish all central government and quango spending over £25,000, including contracts on the internet.
They have also pledged to break up large IT projects into smaller components and encourage more use of "open source" software, ending the government's reliance on a handful of big suppliers.
New IT contracts will be limited to £100m to prevent overspending on projects such as the £12bn NHS patient record system, which has been partially ditched by the government after costly delays. £12bn into something that the government have decided to drop means a lot of money wasted.
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said: "These are welcome ideas, but it is totally contradictory to propose building a future dependent on the internet and support plans to disconnect families as a punishment." The Tory plans also include publishing online the names and salaries of high earning civil servants and quango bosses and their contacts with lobbyists - and a law forcing local councils to publish all items of spending over £500.
They also want to use the internet to give the public direct input into the law-making process, using crowd-sourcing techniques to improve the quality of bills passing through Parliament. Labour has also said it is "committed" to the use of more open source software and recently published its own plans to save save billions through greater use of social media and innovations such as an online "apps store" for civil servants.
Submitted by:
Mark O'Donoghue
Associated Links:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8561836.stm
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