Long awaited Digital Britain report due

Gordon Brown has branded the internet as necessary as electricity, gas and water to Britons. Talking in the lead-up to the publication of the Digital Britain report, which sets out the Government's plans for the future of the internet and communications industries, the Prime Minister said he was "determined that Britain's digital infrastructure will be world class". Mr Brown said: "The digital revolution is changing all our lives beyond recognition and today we shall set out how Britain must change with it. "Whether it is to work online, study, learn new skills, pay bills or simply stay in touch with friends and family, a fast internet connection is now seen by most of the public as an essential service, as indispensable as electricity, gas and water." Mr Brown said he believed investment in the information and communications industries could help the country move "from recession to recovery". At present, the UK's digital economy accounts for about 8 per cent of the UK's national income. Mr Brown continued: "Its continued development is fundamental to the productivity and innovative capacity of so many other sectors and, with that, the creation and protection of hundreds of thousands of jobs." The Digital Britain report will attempt to tackle several key issues, including how to avoid a so-called "digital divide", where some households are left without fast internet access. At present some 3.8 million homes in the UK - mostly in rural areas - cannot get broadband at download speeds of two megabytes per second, the Government's relatively modest target for the whole of Britain to reach by 2012. The report will also look at ways stemming the decline in advertising revenue for TV channels brought on by the advent of digital TV and illegal downloading.

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ITN | June 16, 2009

Tags:. .changing. .class. .electricity. .channels. .revenue