"Until high-speed connections are available, in even the remotest areas, then the benefits of broadband will be limited. We run the risk of social exclusion and the so-called digital divide.”

Now take a look at this story about next-generation broadband from this week's issue of Computing: Network deployment may open up digital divide

It would not be unreasonable to assume that comment was made in support of this week’s article. In fact, this quote was taken from a column published in Computing on 22 May 2002. Here we go again.

The move to a broadband Britain was a slow and at times painful process involving extensive finger pointing among BT, ISPs, content providers and government. But we got there; broadband is now an everyday part of the UK’s technology infrastructure ­ albeit with frustrations over speed and availability in some rural areas.

Nobody can doubt that the investments made by everyone involved in the industry were worthwhile, to reach the point where people are able to receive free broadband services as a perk of buying satellite TV or a mobile phone.

Entire industries already depend on broadband for their existence. There would be no iTunes, for example, no YouTube, no BBC iPlayer, to name just three of the most popular services enabled by high-speed communications to the home.

But still we have the same issues being debated as we enter the era of next-generation broadband.

There is no doubt that the economic case for ubiquitous 100Mbit/s connectivity will stand up to scrutiny. This is simply a must-have.

At government level, there needs to be a recognition that broadband infrastructure has become a critical national resource on which our future economic success depends.

Much of the support from Whitehall emanated from broadband champion Stephen Timms, but some of the momentum he generated seems to have been lost since his change of role in January.

Most of all, we must avoid a repeat of the finger pointing of 2002. Everybody wins from next-generation broadband, so everybody must play their part.