According to an article by the BBC, the UK Government has announced that it will be supporting plans meaning everyone in the UK will have access to at least 2Mbps broadband, by 2012. The plans, proposed by Lord Carter earlier in the year, have been backed by the government. The chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, said "I am allocating extra funding for digital investment, to help to extend the broadband network to almost every community."
The extra funding was announced as part of the new budget for the UK today. Money not spent from the BBC Digital Switch-over scheme may be used to partially pay for the service. Part of the cost of making the service more widely available may be pushed over to Internet Service Providers.
There has been much debate about broadband availability in the UK recently, with various different plans announced. Some argue that money should be spent on making broadband widely available, whilst others argue the money should be spent on making the already existing broadband faster, in order to keep up with other countries.
The final report, named the "Digital Britain" report, is due this Summer, which will reveal more details about how the UK will keep up with technology.