Lord Carter defends ambitions of the Universal broadband pledge

Communications minister Lord Carter has defended the ambition of recently revealed plans to provide universal broadband to all UK households.

In his interim Digital Britain report, the minister laid out a pledge to ensure all British homes should be able to access broadband of a minimum speed of 2Mbps by 2012.

However, with tests already underway in some areas of the country for broadband up to 100Mbps, some commentators have criticised the ambition of the pledge.

Speaking at the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, Lord Carter said the speed was chosen because it was perceived to be the most achievable.

"The judgement we made was that 2Mbps was the lowest speed which would allow us to deliver most public services at an acceptable user experience."

Lord Carter also explained that it was important for the report to lead to real, tangible government policy, which was why he accepted the task in the first place.

A study conducted by the Communications Management Association (CMA) has revealed that 94 per cent of businesses support the need for a high-speed broadband network in the UK.