Broadband plan hits black spot

GOVERNMENT plans to provide universal access to broadband by 2012 have been jeopardised by a row with phone bosses.

Lord Stephen Carter, the Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, is in talks with the mobile phone industry in a bid to get broadband into rural areas.

He hopes to persuade regulators to ring-fence part of the airwaves for mobile broadband use.

But some operators are fighting to keep their capacity and the regulator Ofcom is reluctant to relax its rules over how the airwaves are allocated. The stand-off is expected to lead to a series of tense negotiations ahead of the deadline at the end of the month.

Carter made universal broadband access one of the cornerstones of his interim Digital Britain report in January. Mobile broadband plays a crucial role in meeting this ambition.

He has warned that unless a deal can be struck between the UK's five network operators by the end of the month he will impose a settlement that would wrest that spectrum from Vodafone and O2 so it can be shared with rivals.