At least the trains always run on time.

Digital Britain Day.

1.

Writing in the Financial Times, Lord Carter said: "Just as Britain's canals and railways formed the symbolic infrastructure of the industrial revolution, so the country can exploit the internet revolution using fibre optics and cable in fixed and next generation mobile technology.

2.

There's a risk that digital Britain will end up like Wimbledon — a world-class competition that we created, but never win.

From John Enser, a media and technology partner at Olswang, in Yesterday's Times.


3.

What is the cornerstone of the report?

Lord Carter wants to provide broadband to every home in the UK, running at speeds of at least 2mbps: fast enough to watch a programme on the BBC's iPlayer. Some have criticised this as too slow while others have questioned whether everyone wants broadband. Britain's take-up of the service has been faster than most other major economies, and has the highest proportion of internet advertising of any developed economy. By 2012, £1 in every £5 of all new commerce in Britain will be online, the government said. However about four million homes currently can't receive 2mbps broadband. Lord Carter hopes to tackle this with an overhaul of the existing network infrastructure, as well as moves to increase wireless, mobile broadband, and satellite broadband services.

From the Independent