Written question asked by Stephen O'Brien (Conservative) on Tuesday, 3 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 February 2004. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Monday, 9 February 2004 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what action the Government is taking to promote the take up of next-generation broadband networks. - Inc figures.

Answer: Mr. Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what action the Government are taking to promote the take up of next-generation broadband networks. [153567] Mr. Timms: At the end of 2003 there were over 3.2 million subscribers to broadband services in the UK growing at 40 000 per week. The majority of these subscribers were using services with downstream specifications of 500-600 kbps. However, most of the major providers offer broadband services for businesses and consumers at 1 or 2 Mbps and some operators offer services at even high specifications. We expect that there will be an increasing demand for higher speed services over the next few years. The Government are committed to make use of broadband for the delivery of public services, for example the Department for Education and Skills has set a target for all primary and secondary schools in England to have broadband connections by 2006. As part of its support for businesses adopting information and information technology, the DTI has produced a wealth of material which explains the benefits of using broadband and how it can help business become more effective.

Secondary information