Gordon Brown to praise broadband in Digital Britain address

During a speech at the Digital Britain event today (April 17th), prime minister Gordon Brown will praise the potential of broadband in helping the UK climb out of the recession, according to the Guardian.

Trade secretary Lord Mandelson and culture secretary Andy Burnham are also set to speak at the event in front of senior figures in the telecoms, media, entertainment and technology fields.

Communications minister Lord Stephen Carter has spearheaded the Digital Britain project and will publish his final report on the campaign in July.

In his interim report released earlier in the year, the minister outlined the headline pledge to deliver broadband of a minimum speed of 2Mbps to every UK household by 2012.

Speaking ahead of the event, Lord Carter commented: "This summit will bring together some of the leading thinkers in the digital economy."

"Their views on how to develop our infrastructure, develop our content and creative industries and keep pace with international competition will be invaluable as we finalise our thinking over the next two months."

In other news, the Australian government recently announced a £21 billion broadband investment programme as part of an effort to improve internet access in the country.