Google chairman Eric Schmidt is in the UK tonight to deliver the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh Television Festival. He is expected to announce plans to roll out a UK internet TV service delivered via a set top box that enables users to switch between television and web services.

Google TV will combine apps and search in a simple user interface. It sounds very like boxes already being available from Apple, BT, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and others.

We’ve got a Sony box at home that integrates terrestrial and satellite channels with internet services such as BBC iPlayer, LoveFilm and YouTube. The interface is a bit clunky and no doubt this is something that Google will focus on as a point of differentiation.

But price and product design alone aren’t going to accelerate the adoption of internet TV services in the UK.

The critical issue is broadband access speeds and that’s beyond Google’s control. UK networks simply can’t yet deliver a satellite or terrestrial experience over the internet.

If we want to watch a film at home we need to download it an hour or so in advance. BBC iPlayer stutters and stalls depending on the time of day.

The Government’s ambition is that the UK should have the best broadband network in Europe by 2015, with 90% of homes and businesses having access to up to 40MBps superfast broadband and the balance should have access to at least 2MBps.

BT and Virgin Media are in the process of building out their optical fibre networks but will only invest in areas where it is economically viable. This means that approximately one-third of the UK will miss out.

Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) part of the Department of the Culture, Media and Sport, has been set-up with a fund of £530 million from the TV licence fee to bridge the gap. Local County Councils are to apply for the investment by developing a local broadband plan.

Broadband marketing by service providers always focuses on download speeds. Upload speeds are typically much slower. My domestic service has a download speed of 3MBps but uploads are less than 10% of this speed.

Only superfast broadband will close this gap and make services such as internet television viable.

The Google TV service will launch in the UK by March 2012 following a rollout in the US.

Good luck Google. But we need investment in our Internet infrastructure before Google TV will go mainstream.