BBC not liable for broadband infrastructure costs

Ofcom has taken some of the pressure off the BBC in the argument about who should pay for superfast broadband infrastructure.

Worried about the increasing level of traffic caused by services such as the BBC’s iPlayer, ISPs including Tiscali have called for the BBC to contribute to the cost of upgrading broadband networks in the UK.

Popular programmes on iPlayer, such as Tortchwood are attracting around 50,000 hits a day.

Now, Ofcom chief, Ed Richards, has told a joint session of the Commons Culture, Media & Sport and Business and Enterprise committee that money for network investment is likely to come from a number of sources including network operators.

Consumers could also bear some of the costs, by being expected to pay more for faster connections.

However, Mr Richards also said that content-led tariff models might provide a solution. These would allow ISPs to do deals with content providers like the BBC, so that their traffic would be given priority on the network.