Communications: Digital Britain

My Lords, first, I am disappointed with the statement that the speed of broadband is aimed to be two megabits a second, particularly since, as I understand it, parts of Europe are offering broadband speeds of up to 16 megabits per second. What are the Government doing to try and speed things up? Secondly, what is being done to prevent the drop-off in speed the further from the exchange that the computer operating on broadband is? For those living in the countryside with long distances between their computer and the exchange, this can be quite a serious matter. Can the Minister also tell us whether there are plans to recable the country with fibre optics, which I understand are a lot faster than metal cables, and would therefore help the situation? In asking these questions, I should declare an interest as a director of a charity that uses IT to provide specialist medical advice to doctors all around the world.