Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for culture, olympics, media and sport

“We are at the start of a revolution. There are so many things possible that were never possible before. There are two things that are going to change society.
   1. speed – the demand for speed is increasing 60% increase in demand for bandwidth every year. By 2020 we’ll be looking at 1gig speeds.
   2. Mobility – The PC as primary access point to the internet is dying swiftly.”

The UK has one of the slowest internet speeds in Europe. The Coalition is hoping that 90% of the UK will have super fast broadband by 2015. The UK is the second largest producer of digital content – of course America is the first.
Hunt said: We must watch out for digital divide; 9 million adults have never accessed the internet at all. For example, new universal benefits from 2013 will only be accessible online. This will mean that claimants will be trained to use the internet.
Hunt said: Changes will be both positive and negative and will not be easy to anticipate. As a society must be alive and open to possibilities and the internet is a force for individualism, and also a force for altruism, which don’t normally go together. But increasingly the internet will allow both. He’s called it ‘Collaborative individualism‘…

When asked about the upcoming Communications Bill, Hunt said it will cover the following:

• White paper by the spring – take measures that will help growth in digital industries.
• Media regulation
• Parents and customers can have protection online.