Even Microsoft's boss can't get broadband

Would-be broadband users in the UK take heart: even the CEO of Microsoft can't get high-speed internet access at home

Ballmer was addressing an audience of Microsoft professionals in London yesterday, when he admitted: "I can't get cable or DSL to my house. I live in an affluent neighbourhood, six minutes from downtown Seattle, and I can't get it."

So users in the UK who can't get fast internet access are at least in good company. One might have thought that someone of Ballmer's stature could afford a leased line on his expense account, or could perhaps even buy a small telco to provide coverage, but Ballmer said he has been personally begging the heads of AT&T and Qwest to no avail.

When asked what can be done to help broadband rollout in the UK, Ballmer replied that Microsoft has done its best to promote broadband Britain. "We invested in Telewest and NTL and it cost us a boatload of money," he said.

Asked what could be done to improve the availability of broadband access, he said we need "good old-fashioned competition". In Japan, he said, a change in regulations had provoked an increase in broadband from a standing start to four million users in 18 months.

Germany's Deutsche Telekom also "gets it" as regards the rollout of broadband, said Ballmer. Other countries will follow when their telecoms operators "get it", he said.

In the meantime, he said his wife wants a wireless LAN in the home, and he won't do that until the house has broadband.

Peter Judge writes for News.com