Commenting after the Communication Management Association called for the
DTI to take a lead to deliver broadband services to every home in the UK
within two years. Michael Fabricant, Shadow Minister for Industry &
Technology, said:

"The CMA are right to express concern. The DTI are complacent and have
no comprehension of the desperate need for fast broadband speeds.
Britain is in the slow lane with broadband data speeds being in the
order of 500,000 bits per second. In the Far East, 14,000,000 bits per
second are readily available: 28 times faster. And speeds capable of
transmitting high definition television will soon be the norm elsewhere.
That requires at least 2,500,000 bits per second as a minimum.

"Either Blair’s Ministers don’t understand the need for fast broadband
connections or they are simply ignoring it. Either way, they are
condemning Britain to live in the past while economic tigers overtake us
in the broadband fast lane."