The cost of rolling out broadband to everyone in the UK by 2015 has spiralled, according to the communications minister.

Ed Vaizey claimed it will cost at least twice as much as the Labour government's estimates to meet the terms of the Universal Service Commitment (USC), under which all Britons will be able to access minimum download speeds of 2Mb/s.

Responding to a question from Stephen Timms, Mr Vaizey remarked: "We estimate the cost of meeting the USC would be at least double the funds identified by the previous administration.

"Discussions with industry indicate that the shortfall may be even greater."

Earlier this month, secretary general of the International Telecommunication Union Dr Hamadoun Toure said the UK's goal of achieving 2Mb/s speeds by 2015 is "rather modest".

He claimed that by this time, the population of Finland will be able to connect to 100Mb/s home broadband as a "basic legal right", while other European nations have similar targets.

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