Niall Murphy, co-founder of The Cloud, argues that Digital Britain will fail without the mobile Internet

The Digital Britain report sets the objectives of modernising digital networks, ensuring access for all, and stimulating the development of a vibrant digital economy and social environment in Britain. The proposals put forward in the report, however, are flawed, through the limited extent to which the creation of an Internet-everywhere, ultra fast broadband mobile Internet environment will be enabled a critical success factor for a 21st century digital infrastructure in Britain.
The report fails to address the role of wi-fi and related technologies, and to provide a framework for the availability of increased unlicensed spectrum and licensed spectrum with the capacity to provide ultra fast mobile Internet services. Wi-fi today provides simple, fast, wireless broadband and open Internet experience to millions of wi-fi-enabled devices across the UK. Millions of wi-fi networks utilising unlicensed spectrum are creating a high speed mobile Internet access network across Britain. Given Internet access by citizens in Britain during the course of the next five to 10 years will be fulfilled through handheld and mobile devices, it is crucial the Digital Britain report provides a strategy that will enable the broadest possible availability of ultra fast mobile Internet access at the lowest cost, and supporting a dynamic digital economy and environment.

Blending technologies
The Digital Britain report fails to discuss the benefits of blending technologies like wi-fi and 3G or 4G together. Whilst there are clear benefits to spectrum re-farming and the availability of additional spectrum at 2.6GHz and through the digital dividend process, the report fails to address the scale of broadband demand that will be fulfilled through wireless. With mobile Internet users today increasing their mobile data capacity demand at between 3- and 5-fold per annum, 3G and emergent 4G technologies provide insufficient capacity to service this demand which will be almost 100 times greater per mobile Internet user in Britain by 2015 than it is today.
The report sets the objective of ensuring a viable commercial model for mobile network operators. This goal will be impossible to achieve with operators required to undertake very large capital investments in one technology in an attempt to keep up with mobile Internet speed demands.
A solution is to utilise wi-fi and similar short range, high speed wireless broadband technologies in combination with the ubiquity capabilities offered by 3G and 4G technologies. An ultrafast mobile Internet environment can be created by blending 3G, 4G and wi-fi technologies, and by undertaking initiatives to stimulate and support the creation of high speed wireless broadband wi-fi networks across Britain.

Proof point
The current success of the Apple iPhone provides a proof point for this model, with the device defaulting to wi-fi for Internet access and, if wi-fi is not available, seeking out 3G coverage. The result is a high speed experience and a cost efficient network.
Market forecasts indicate approaching 70% of all Internet traffic will incorporate video or video clips by 2012 as of today wi-fi is the only available technology to effectively deliver high quality streamed video over the Internet to mobile devices. British citizens will expect to benefit from, and be able to apply a multimedia mobile Internet, and it is therefore crucial that the right strategies are applied to see its creation in Britain. Britain will fail in its ambitions if these issues are left unaddressed.