The latest bout of the attacks has been BT’s resorting to retaliation to the complaint made by the rival internet service providers to the minister and BT itself through a couple of letters. It seemed the telecommunications giant was particularly incenced due to the ISPs’ leaking the letters to the press even before the former had received a copy.

This move from the rival broadband providers had virtually put BT on its back foot, besides making it appear reluctant to answering the queries of the journalists.

The challenging of the PIA (Physical Infrastructure Access) charges set by BT, by the rival internet service providers, quiet much makes the PIA prices an impediment in the way of achieving the GBP 830 million impetus from the government for bringing widespread superfast fibre-based broadband to the United Kingdom, by 2015.

Meanwhile, Broadband Delivery UK, the organisation  that oversees the rollout is due to receive bids to run trial projects to paving the way for the deployment. Under the circumstances, if the rival broadband providers go ahead with their plans of boycotting the bidding process, if something worthy was not done, it obviously would impact Vaizey’s plans in a negative way.

Nevertheless, on the other hand, BT looks firm on its stance that the prices fixed by it for the rival internet service providers to access its poles and ducts are very much comparable with the European charges.

However, when it came to the claim of the government that in five years’ time it would change the superfast broadband infrastructure of the country, to the best in Europe, one finds at least a few heads showing disagreement. Cannot blame them as well when they asks “with GBP 830 million?”.

Nevertheless, Ed Vaizey, the communications minister of the country has reiterated his claim that the country would have Europe’s most competent fibre optic broadband network within the next 5 years.

From the words of the minister, one get to the conclusion that he predominantly counts on the two prominent fibre optic broadband providers engaged in rolling out superfast broadband across the United Kingdom presently. Not to forget that these two bigwigs, in their turn, are constantly searching for an chance to denigrate each other.

Meanwhile, Vaizey seemed to be on a high when speaking on his two frontline fighters. He said that Virgin Media was at the threshold of rolling out broadband servicesof up to 100Mbps speeds to around half of the households in the country over the next couple of years.

Vaizey also did not forget to comment on the future plans of the leading fixed-line broadband provider in the UK – BT, which was spending GBP 2.5 billion on the deployment of fibre optic broadband covering two thids of the country’s property by 2015.

As a matter of fact, the appointment of Vaizey as the minister holding the responsibility for rolling out broadband internet network across the United Kingdom and implementing in the country, the Digital Economy Act, makes him report to the culture secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Nevertheless, Vaizey, a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State would operate with in both BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills Department) and the DCOMS (Department for Culture, Olympics, Sport and Media).

Although, it was widely perceived that Vaizey was the most likely candidate to assume the post, there were also speculation that the job might just go to MP John Penrose. Nonetheless, the final whistle – although reporting to Culture Department – went in favour of Vaizey and his admirers.

It is also perceived that the position of the new digital minister may have been determined by the interest levels in the Digital Economy Act’s copyright part that includes sections to punish illegal downloaders and their broadband providers.

It is also interesting to see a major chunk of the opposition of the Liberal Democrats towards these provisions in the Act that would prove to be a necessary measure to safeguard the interests of the media and creative industries of the United Kingdom, evaporated after the general election. Presumably, as a result of the coalition.

BBC, the popular news portal has reported that a strong candidate for the post of the broadband minister of the United Kingdom that could be announced late this week, is Ed Vaizey, the culture minister.

The newly appointed minister for broadband internet affairs of the country will be imparted with the responsibilities that include ensuring Britain met its goals on achieving wider broadband internet access and connection speeds across the country.

It is also worth mentioning here that a number of significant figures of the broadband industry have recently expressed their concerns over the future of the broadband industry of the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Raymond O’Hare, the chairman at the Institute of Scotland has described the plans proposed to achieve 2Mbps connection speeds across 90 per cent of the population of the United Kingdom by 2012 as ‘unambitious’. He had given his view in the newspaper the Scotsman.

Likewise, i3 Group, the fibre specialist has criticised the plans of the Conservatives to roll out fibre optic broadband internet service across the rural areas of the United Kingdom.

The new secretary will have to rise to the occasion with plans to carry along super-fast broadband internet service to that third of the nation, which pretty seems to miss out on a decent commercial provision.

In a briefing thrown at an international meeting on dark fibre, the UK Shadow minister for arts, Ed Vaizey has taken the battle to the Labour camps by stating that Labour’s business rates levy policy has resulted in inflicting great damage to the telecoms in the United Kingdom. Later, in another briefing given to Computer Weekly, Vaizey hit out at the business rates regime saying that it was a potential disincentive to the rollout of a competitive and superfast next generation broadband network, since it dated from 1601.

His (Conservative Party’s?) political view is profound and vivid in his lament that hardly any body has come forward to shoulder the responsibility for the rates with authority, even as the responsibility for the business rates was being shared between one too many departments of the government, including the business, skills and innovation department that held the charge of the communications aspect, the DCLG (the communities and local government department) that held the charge of the rating policy, the treasury that is headed by the minister who also takes care of the Digital Britain implementation, and the VOA (valuation office agency).

Vaizey’s remark that they saw the policy being shared amongst a bewildering range of quangos and government bodies, and the claim that came alongside that this was something that he intended to fix, sows the seed of speculation that he might be the man that the Conservatives would assign with the telecommunications department once it gains power. Moreover this one view of the shadow arts minister, obviously overshadows the commitment of the de jury Digital Britain minister as well as that of the de facto minister that are seen going through the motions at present.

Vaizey scores further over his counterpart (s) by playing down the proposals by the Valuation Office Agency to levy the WiMAX and WiFi networks that the proposal was still damaging even though the VOA had claimed that it was simply an extension of the policy that exists. Besides, he also revealed that the Conservative Party was against the government’s plan to slap a 50 pence a month levy on the UK fixed telephone lines. He has cited the view put forward by the TalkTalk chief Charles Dunstone – that the scheme of the government was likely to impede the superfast next generation fibre broadband rollout in the rural UK, for the private investors might anticipate the availability of public funds – to flay the Labour 50p monthly broadband tax plans.

Vaizey also made clear the stance of the Tories that they were looking ahead to an investment scheme that participated every one, and not just BT. He said that this meant that the network of BT should be opened up for other broadband providers as well to run fibre. His further proposals that they would not be tied down to a particular broadband technology, and the most ideal way to boost investment was to encourage competition in the liberal markets, accentuates one aspect. That encouragement of competition would be the prime Tory line.

The shadow arts minister further emphasizes this view by stating that though the fact that the investment in the sector of telecommunications was driven by competition, was also clear that a crucial part in market outcomes was played by the policy and regulation of the government. This is clearly a warning to none but the prominent fixed-line broadband provider operating in the United Kingdom, BT.

Vaizey’s insight on the technology part is also remarkable, perhaps a yard ahead of that of his rivals, Stephen Timms and Lord Mandelson. He acknowledges the significance of the availability of dark fibre in the rollout of the next generation broadband rollout in the UK in the competitive market of his dreams. The essence of the part is in his following statement that they wanted the telecoms regulator Ofcom to perform a complete review of how could dark fibre be delivered to the UK broadband market.

Vaizey’s view that dark fibre backhaul might be of much use in supporting the LLU (local loop unbundling) as the latter could sustain profound network competition in the next generation broadband internet access provision, along with another that for its realization, innovative solutions such as a direct access to digital subscriber loop (DSL) card management or the lesser access to cabinet shelves or racks would be required, sounds quiet reasonable as well as supportive to the main cause.

One part that Vaizey seemed to be conveniently overlooking was the universal broadband speed, which has been a concern for most of the broadband consumers in the country at present. This was also the pitfall that Lord Carter had recognized, but lately and rudely neglected by Mandelson. Nonetheless, the promising show by Vaizey certainly provides food for thought for the broadband experts of the country as well as dreams for the UK ISPs (except BT) and the end users. The sole question that remains unanswered is what would be the role of Jeremy Hunt there?