The UK is experiencing an entrepreneurial revolution, but the fact is that it is near impossible to launch a startup with a couple of employees in a converted barn with a connection of 2Mbps or less. With a connection of 1Gbps, however, a whole new world of opportunities opens up.

Rural businesses are struggling to recruit young people
It’s important to stress that a more demanding target should not mean reinforcing the market position of the incumbent, BT, or even a particular type of technology. Getting ultra-fast speeds means enabling competing firms to enter the market on a level playing field.

One of the best examples of how to do this comes from a surprising source: Lithuania. It has the third highest upload speed in the world, as well as the global number one ranking for ICT infrastructure. This came about because, in 2004, Lithuania forced its equivalent of BT to give rivals full open access to the physical infrastructure of ducts and poles at a reasonable cost. This led to an explosion of investment by the alternative network providers, and they rocketed up the league tables as a result.

If we fail to rise to the challenge on broadband, we will miss out on the exciting technological developments of the next decade. Self-driving cars, virtual and enhanced reality, the internet of things, artificial intelligence, 5G and above all, cloud-based services, simply won’t happen without the speed, universal reach and reliability of a network that has untied itself from the copper cables of the past.”