Birmingham council chief criticises lack of FTTP investment

The government has been criticised for failing to invest in fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband infrastructure.

Birmingham City Council Chief Executive Stephen Hughes, writing for the Local Government Chronicle, said the failure to direct public funding at the ultrafast broadband technology means the UK is "throwing massive economic opportunities away while the rest of the world is overtaking us".

Mr Hughes described the business case for investing in FTTP as "immeasurable" and criticised the Conservative-led coalition for instead choosing to slash public spending and increase taxes. "It simply doesn't make sense," he insisted.

Birmingham planned to leverage taxpayers' money to finance the construction of a new FTTP network serving small and medium-sized enterprises in the city's creative quarters.

However, this proposal was derailed when BT and Virgin Media complained about the use of state aid to improve connectivity in areas that are already served by the private sector.

This effectively delayed the installation until the legal process could be resolved, leading to the government scrapping the plan.