IN RESPONSE to Government Minister Lord Carter’s comments that the BBC could have a role in funding broadband for all, the CLA urges the Government to take concrete steps to make this a reality.

CLA Yorkshire Regional Director Dorothy Fairburn said: “Lord Carter has accepted what the CLA has been saying for some time, that the Government objective of broadband for all by 2012 can only become a reality if the public sector invests heavily.

“We won’t have universal broadband in rural areas without significant public investment. We have already said that a proportion of the BBC licence fee should be used to contribute to the cost of this.

“But this won’t be sufficient. As the Government already has a comprehensive broadband network it should now show a bit of common sense and allow private businesses to ‘piggy-back’ on it.”