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Superfast broadband 'could cost nearly £30bn' / Monday, September 08, 2008
The cost of installing sufficient infrastructure for superfast broadband in the UK could reach nearly £30 billion, it has been claimed.
According to a report from the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG), the cost of rolling out fibre networks to the whole country could cost anything from £5.1 billion to £28.8 billion, depending on the technology used.
The report from the government's advisory group on broadband found that the cost of deploying this technology in rural areas will far outweigh that for installation in urban centres.
Antony Walker, chief executive of the BSG, said: "This is the most comprehensive analysis produced to date on the costs of deploying fibre in the UK."
He added while the scale of the costs seem daunting, the group's report offer plans for how this expenditure can be reduced and explores the likely extent of the commercial rollout of this technology.
Last month, the BSG responded to the consultation from the European Commission on cross-media ratings and age verification of social networking websites.