Fibre broadband 'not yet required'?

The debate over the future of broadband in the UK rumbles on as the telecoms regulator has called for more evidence to be presented that installing fibre optic lines would significantly boost the country's economy.

With the price of rolling out these services pinned at around £15 billion, Ofcom's head of strategy, Peter Phillips, told the BBC: "We need significant evidence that such a network is required and I don't think it exists yet."

Potentially, these improved lines could boost broadband speeds closer to the 50 MB/s enjoyed by net users in places such as South Korea, which would in turn improve the quality and reliability of VoIP telephony services due to the increased bandwidth available.

However, Justin Paul, a development manager at telecoms equipment firm Alcatel-Lucent, said: "The question is how to make money and I'm not sure the answer is good."

Despite this, the take-up of broadband has seen a revolution in the UK communications industry, with now 88.4 per cent of Britons now preferring the high speed lines rather than dialup connections, according to the Office of National Statistics.