Universal Service Obligation

The vast majority of households in Bury North now have access to what is called superfast broadband. In essence this refers to the fact that the bits of computer information which previously had to be transferred along the old existing copper cables are now being transferred along more modern fibre cables which allow more information to be carried and therefore users get faster speeds.
For the small minority who do not enjoy this service they have to put up with very slow broadband access which means they cannot do many of the online activities others take for granted. The Prime Minister announced last year that he was going to change the law to put the provision of superfast broadband on the same legal footing as say a water or electricity supply. Today, we have had the strongest hint yet that a Bill will be included in the Queen’s Speech to introduce this legislation. I have already asked several questions in Parliament about this new right because the devil will be in the detail. There have already been two consultation documents and I will be very keen to see how useful the new right will be in practice.