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The government of the United Kingdom plans to provide all its citizens with no less than a 10 megabytes per second of internet access within the next couple of years.
In a statement, the U.K. government announced plans to make access to high speed broadband internet a legal right. Implementation of this by independent regulator Ofcom will take two years from the laying down of secondary legislation in 2018.
By 2020, if plans push through, every home and business within the U.K. would have at least 10 mbps internet access. The speed will be increased over time as connectivity requirements evolve. Anyone will have a legal right to request for internet connectivity but will have to shoulder costs, in the same way that people pay for utilities, like with having a landline phone.
Culture secretary Karen Bradley said, “This is all part of our work on ensuring that Britain’s telecoms infrastructure is fit for the future and will continue to deliver the connectivity that consumers need in the digital age.”
Making internet access a legal right also helps in bringing connectivity to hard-to-reach areas. JB
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