The UK government will introduce a "universal service obligation" for broadband that guarantees all UK residents have the legal right to an "affordable" connection, the PM has pledged. By 2020, it's promised that residents will be able to request a connection of at least 10Mbps, and an ISP will have to connect them no matter where in the country they live or work.

"Access to the Internet shouldn't be a luxury, it should be a right—absolutely fundamental to life in 21st Century Britain," said David Cameron. "Just as our forebears effectively brought gas, electricity, and water to all, we're going to bring fast broadband to every home and business that wants it."

The creation of a "universal service obligation" for broadband would put Internet access on the same essentials list as water, electricity, and gas, effectively making it a fundamental right for UK residents. The government will hold a consultation on how to achieve its lofty broadband goals in early 2016.

Unfortunately, the government hasn't exactly had a great track record when it comes to broadband pledges. In 2012, then culture secretary Jeremy Hunt promised the UK would have the fastest broadband in Europe by 2015. Akamai's latest "State of the Internet" report ranks the UK as having the 21st fastest broadband in the world, and the country is some way down the list in Europe.

Speaking to the BBC, shadow minister for culture and the digital economy Chi Onwurah said the government needed to state exactly when consumers would "actually see the benefits."

"Five years after abandoning Labour's fully-funded commitment to universal broadband, the government's 'superfast' broadband rollout is still being hit with delays and at the mercy of a single provider," she said.

It's not yet clear how the government intends to fund its latest broadband scheme. BT has already been the main beneficiary of more than the £1 billion the government is spending as part of the "superfast" broadband rollout across the UK.