The Policy Exchange thinktank has released a report which argues that there should be no more public subsidy for fixed or mobile internet connections after 2015. It says that successive governments have become too focused on pursuing speed as a proxy for progress, rather than the economic and social benefits of being online.

According to the Superfast and the Furious report, 79 per cent of people think the internet is something that everyone should be able to get access to.10.8m people in the UK do not have internet access, and 64 per cent of people think it is more important for everyone to have basic broadband than it is to boost top speeds in select parts of the country. Price and reliability of the internet connection were found to matter just as much as speed across all age groups.

The report highlights that the UK has lagged behind other G20 countries in deploying 4G, the likes of Sweden and Norway, and yet the UK has a strong internet economy. It recommends introducing a streamlined planning regime for local authorities wanting to accelerate the rollout of fixed and mobile connectivity for their communities.

Chris Yiu, author of the report, said: “Successive governments have been right to invest public money in basic broadband connectivity. The governments current spending plans will extend fast broadband to the vast majority of people. Any further public money should be spent on making sure we are putting this to good use. Its far from clear that your taxes should help to pay for me to have an even faster connection. There is no doubt that broadband, both fixed and wireless, makes a major contribution to the economy. But the right person to decide how much speed your family or business needs is you – not the government.”

Cited within the document, the Mobile broadband and the UK report written by Capital Economics in 2012 found that up to 5 per cent of the population may be better able to access mobile rather than poor or non-existent fixed broadband . It said the boost from 4G could reach 0.5 per cent of GDP.

The late running of the 4G auction, set to take place this month, is estimated  to have cost the economy between £180m and £360m.