§ 11. Mr. FlookTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the likely penetration of broadband television via the internet over the next 10 years. [187903]
§ Tessa JowellThe take-up of broadband in the UK is now rapid with a wide range of suppliers in the marketplace and there are now about 50,000 new broadband subscribers every week. BT is now in a position to ensure that over 99 per cent. of all households could acquire a broadband connection if they so wished.
However, broadband TV remains in its infancy, and it will be many years before it could be regarded as universally available. Because of broadband TV's current small scale and technological limitations Government has not as yet made a specific assessment of where the market for broadband TV will be in the next 10 years, but of course Ofcom and other experts are routinely monitoring changes in technology and in consumer behaviour.