Experts frequently fail to get things right. History is littered with so-called experts who predicted things totally incorrectly. The boss of IBM famously said there would only ever be a need for a handful of computers. Ha..!

So, why should we believe the “experts” at Ofcom and BT who tell us that expanding the UK’s broadband system is “premature”. Apparently there is “no evidence” that we need a better system. They said that when the M1 was built; there was no evidence that we needed great big roads. Mmmm. Equally, there was no evidence that we needed radio or TV transmitters being built when broadacsting was in its infancy. And who would have thought a hundred years ago when the Wright brothers managed a few hundred yards off the ground, that we’d need “air traffic control”?

The evidence for the need for improved broadband is already with us; take a look at Korea, for instance, where Internet usage is virtually essential to life.

The “experts” then tell us that people may not be prepared to pay the extra cash needed. Five years ago people were paying fro dial-up, pennies in comparison to the £120 a year on average spent now. Price is almost never a barrier to service; if it’s good, people will pay. So, the pricing argument against development of super-fast broadband in the UK fails as well.

Come on Ofcom and BT – the rest of us are in the 21st Century, come and join us, it’s lovely. However, we won’t be here for long if you don’t catch up. If broadband is not improved and uprated in the UK, many businesses will leave since it will be an essential infrastructure. It will be like asking an international business to be based in Reading, without the M4 to get them to Heathrow. We provide essential infrastructure like roads, why not an uprated broadband; it’s no longer good enough to say there is no evidence. Ofcom needs to show leadership – and fast.