This is a follow up story to the article printed in the October Newsletter entitled "Fibre To The Home Planned". The article outlined BT's plans to roll out its fibre optic broadband technology to commercial customers. The Conservative party have now vowed to deliver a super-fast broadband network to UK homes by 2017 according to the BBC.

But are they just dangling a carrot prior to the election? They intend to part fund it using the BBC Licence fee. Obviously, Labour have accused the Tories of playing "catch-up" on broadband improvements because the government has already set a target that homes should have access to speeds of 2Mbps by 2012 and the Tories were opposed to the plans to make it happen.

The Tories also plan to end BT's "local loop monopoly" by making changes to the regulatory framework, giving private investors the chance to pay for improved cabling, which is an approach that has paid dividends in other countries.

To view the full BBC News item, click here