Public are sceptical over Carter's Digital Britain

26 million people think Lord Carter's planned universal service of 2Mbps will be too slow for a minimum speed and 10 million people think the policy will actually limit consumer choice, according to a new report from leading price comparison site moneysupermarket.com.

Lord Carter's Digital Britain report is due this spring, detailing plans to bring Britain's communications infrastructure up to speed. However, over a third (36 per cent) think the government will fail in its plans for universal broadband, and as a result of this two in five people (41 per cent) think the digital divide will never be bridged.

The report reveals that, given Ofcom recently revealed the average broadband speed across the UK is 3.6Mb, many of those who currently have access to fast broadband do not think 2Mb is an adequate speed:

Nine in 10 (91 per cent) say 2Mb is not enough for downloading video content

Nine in 10 (89 per cent) say it is not enough for watching streamed video such as iPlayer

Eight in 10 (83 per cent) say it is not enough for online gaming

Eight in 10 (82 per cent) say it is not enough for VoIP telephone use

Eight in 10 (80 per cent) say it is not enough for downloading music

Two in five (43 per cent) say it is not enough for internet surfing

Two in five (41 per cent) say it is not enough for online shopping/banking

James Parker, manager of broadband at moneysupermarket.com, said: "The majority of homes with internet have access to fast services. Ofcom and moneysupermarket.com have both conducted tests that show UK average speeds are above 3Mb. Despite this, the Digital Britain report seems to think 2Mb is a good enough minimum, even though this report shows a significant majority already find 2Mb too slow for many services such as iPlayer."

Three in four (76 per cent) people see internet access as an essential to modern life. Not only has the internet become a key portal for shopping, banking, music, film and keeping in touch with friends, but it's also central to government services with three in four people (75 per cent) making use of government services such as car tax renewal (47 per cent), Directgov (37 per cent), NHS direct (29 per cent) and job centre services (18 per cent).

This demonstrates why two thirds (66 per cent) of people agree with Gordon Brown's recent statement that 'the internet has the potential to be as important to Britain's industrial and economic future as roads and bridges'. Yet the survey clearly reveals people don't have faith in the government to deliver.

Parker continues: "Supplying every household with the opportunity to receive broadband would go along way to bridging the digital divide. However, market regulation is the key to ensure consumers get a fair deal and are provided with the option to search between a number of providers and packages to suit their needs."