The telecoms industry has put up with Government inaction on the road to digital transformation for too long according to the Secretary of State for Media Sajid Javid.
Speaking in the Churchill Rooms at the Houses of Parliament where he was guest speaker at the launch of Channel Telecom's own 'manifesto for telecoms', the minister said: "Seventy years ago Winston Churchill said 'I never worry about action but only inaction'.
"For too long Government inaction is what your industry has had to put up with. As the world accelerated away down the long digital highway, the authorities here in Britain, stood on the hard shoulder and waited for the private sector to do all the hard work.
"For example, back in 2010 less than half of UK premises had access to superfast broadband and that simply wasn't good enough. It is a vital piece of infrastructure, just like roads, canals, railways or telegraph wires - so is the information super highway, today, a vital piece of our infrastructure."
The minister applauded the enterprise of private companies in the telecoms sector for building the road to digitalisation, especially the roll out of 4G, and promised Channel Telecom's partner guests at the event that any Government he was part of in the future would be 'committed to working with business leaders in driving forward Britain's economic recovery'.
Javid added: "We can be certain that Britain's telecom industry is a serious business, one that must be supported. Channel Telecom's own figures say that the sector is worth £38 billion to the economy and employs over half a million people. That is an incredible contribution and one that I want to thank you for tonight.
"We have canvassed your views on our digital communications infrastructure strategy which I'll be publishing shortly. And that's why, for example, we will be consulting with industry on the electronic communications code so that it can be fit for the future."
After the minister's speech, Stephen Yates, Channel Telecom's Head of Partners, unveiled Channel Telecom's own manifesto which calls on the Government to stamp down on telecoms fraud, improve the UK connectivity infrastructure by ensuring a more competitive market and widening Ofcom's regulatory powers.
Pictured (l-R): Clifford Norton, Sajid Javid and Eleanor Laing, House of Commons Deputy Speaker.