Commentators have been quick to dismiss today’s Broadband Britain white paper, but there’s a lot to like such as commitments on anti-piracy, video game classification and clear dates for analogue radio switch off.

But these are all ancillary to the main issue of the delivery of universal broadband. And to be fair this is where most people have been directing their fury.

The white paper proposes that all households will have access to a basic 2Mbps level of broadband by 2012 by reassigning a £200 million digital TV switchover war chest for network investment.

To upgrade networks beyond 2Mbps Broadband Britain proposes a £6 a month tax on fixed phone lines. The phone line levy will raise an estimated £150 million per annum. It’s a fraction of the cost required to build a UK-wide fibre to the home network that would deliver so called Next Generation Network (NGN) capability.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that the report would pave the way to making Britain’s digital infrastructure world class. I don’t think it is – in Japan and South Korea households already have access to 100Mbps broadband.

A much bolder approach is required.