14 DAY TRIAL // The British have their quirks, but in the small towns and in the country there's one thing you can count on, they like things to stay as they are. They love their old houses and quiet streets and don't want anything ruining the rural charm of their homes.
Anything like the "ghastly" fiber optics cabinets that the government wants to litter around the country to drive up broadband adoption and coverage, for example.
The UK wants to have the fastest internet in Europe by 2015 after all. Granted, since the original statements, ambitions have been dialed down to having a "major" internet network by that time.
These cabinets would house the converters, switches and routers needed to switch from the fiber optics cable leading up to it to the Ethernet cables that will be going inside the houses.
This approach, rather than the "fiber-to-home" approach is significantly cheaper while still ensuring speeds well beyond what's available in most places now.
You can imagine that a lot of people didn't like the idea of one of these boxes set up in front of their homes and have been pressuring local authorities to delay or block the roll out.
Which is why Maria Miller, the newly minted Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is taking a no nonsense approach and will be ignoring all of the complaints.
"Superfast broadband is vital to secure our country’s future – to kick start economic growth and create jobs. We are putting in the essential infrastructure that will make UK businesses competitive, and sweeping away the red tape that is a barrier to economic recovery," she said.
"The government means business and we are determined to cut through the bureaucracy that is holding us back," she added.
To make sure that happens, the government will move to install these cabinets wherever it sees fit without the approval of the local councils, except in special interest sites.
There are plans to cut down on some of the bureaucracy needed to approve plans to lay new fiber optic cables.
Finally, the government wants to cut down on the process needed to build these cabinets on private land or under it.