Broadband Britain: how fast can we go?
In his latest column, Stephen Pritchard claims Government plans to boost broadband must be welcomed. But there is more to it than the town and country divide.
![Stephen Pritchard](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/9h2WG4CBhY5iw5KtiBnUAG-130-80.jpg)
"The service you are requesting is not yet available in your area. Please try again later." These words, or those like them, are not something you want to read if you are trying to order a faster broadband connection.
The announcement made this week by culture and media secretary Jeremy Hunt will at least help some communities avoid those dreaded words, even if proponents of faster broadband argue Government help is not going far enough. And even with the new, 830m investment, the UK will continue to lag behind European competitors such as The Netherlands and Sweden, when it comes to access to genuine, high-speed services.
There are reasons why the Dutch and the Scandinavians have a head start, however, and it is not just down to politics.
Although community-led high-speed broadband projects are common in parts of Sweden, so are mixed use commercial, retail and residential developments that make it easier for these plans to pay their way.
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Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.
Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.
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