DURBAN - The British government has declared that it will make high-speed broadband internet a guaranteed legal right for all its citizens by the year 2020.
Meaning that all homes and businesses will have the legal right to high-speed broadband internet.
The U.K.'s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has committed to providing users the legal right to ask an ISP provide a minimum 10Mbps connection to their home, whether or not they live in an urban or rural area - which is a further mandate made as a part of the government's Universal Service Obligation.
The announcement happened just a few days after the United States Federal Commission repealed net neutrality rules that were implemented by former President Barack Obama, a move that critics says creates a away for internet service provders to generate "fast lanes" which could end up increasing costs for custiomers to access higher internet speeds
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Matt Hancock, Minister of Digital and Culture, said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that the new provision does not mean that all homes would necessarily get faster speeds but all homes would now have the legal right to demand it.
"It’s about having the right to demand it,” Hancok said. “It’s an on-demand programme. If you don’t go on the internet and aren’t interested then you won’t phone up and demand this".
In 2010, Finland was the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for all of their citizens.
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