Online retailers to reap £740m as superfast fibre broadband rolls out across UK
Superfast broadband is set to support Britain’s online retailers by boosting sales by as much as £740m a year, according to research carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
British shoppers already on superfast internet spend an average of 3.1 per cent, or £23 per year, more than shoppers on slower connections, according to the report commissioned by Royal Mail.
On Friday culture secretary Sajid Javid announced that the government’s £1.7bn rollout of fibre broadband has now reached 1m homes and businesses, and is on-track to hit 95 per cent of properties by 2017.
“Superfast broadband is acting as a catalyst, encouraging people to spend more online and the further roll-out of networks across Britain over the coming years can only benefit the online retailing market,” said Royal Mail managing director Nick Landon.
The government’s rollout of fibre through Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) is intended to bring fibre broadband to rural parts of the UK that the private sector would not otherwise have reached.
However, BDUK’s work has not been without criticism. The Public Accounts Committee last year said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had mismanaged its bidding process for the BDUK contracts by not making them competitive enough, leaving BT as the sole remaining bidder in the process.