Science & Tech Quote by Richard Branson

Branson’s prediction isn’t just a tech forecast; it’s a land grab disguised as inevitability. By tossing out a crisp “within five years” and the almost-comically precise “96 percent,” he frames internet access as a near-total social fact, not a contested policy choice or a messy market outcome. The number does rhetorical work: it sounds measured, responsible, empirical. It also crowds out doubt. If 96 percent access is coming, then the only rational stance is to get on board - as a consumer, a regulator, an investor.

The phrase “whether it be through” is the quiet power move. Branson isn’t betting on one device; he’s laying claim to the whole ecosystem. Personal computers, set-top boxes, mobile phones: three doors into the same house, each tied to a different industry with different gatekeepers. In the UK context of late-90s/early-2000s telecom liberalization and the dot-com boom hangover, that matters. The fight wasn’t simply “will people go online?” but who would own the pipes, the portals, the billing relationship, the customer’s habit.

Subtext: connectivity is framed as consumer convenience rather than civic infrastructure. “British consumers” reduces citizens to buyers, positioning the internet as a product to be delivered, not a public good to be guaranteed. It’s classic Branson: optimistic, brand-friendly futurism that also pressures incumbents and governments. If access is inevitable, resistance looks not cautious but obsolete - and that’s exactly the point.