The battle to widen broadband access is being stepped up, with councils set to take a key role. Communications minister and former Ofcom regulator, Lord Carter, is set to announce a rapid increase in access to broadband services at the end of the month when he outlines his Digital Britain programme. He is expected to say that government, at all levels, will have a central role in achieving access for all, including financing expansion. 'Today, we are way beyond the view that broadband is a niche product. It is an enabling and transformational service and, therefore, we have to look at how we can universalise it,' he said. 'It is dear that there are many other countries in the world taking a completely different view of the role of infrastructure as an essential part of an economy, and the role of government in the provision of that infrastructure.'
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