If you’re reading this then you’re probably on a broadband connection. But for hundreds of people in my constituency of Skipton and Ripon, and thousands more across the country, it’s not that easy. They live in so called not-spots – areas where broadband access still isn’t available.
For anyone who’s currently on a broadband connection, just think about how you’d feel having to go back to having to dial-up and wait an age for one e-mail to come through. Then spare a thought for those who have no choice.
That’s why I’m pleased the Government are doing so much to try and stop these not-spots and also to bring superfast broadband to many more of our communities.
In the House of Commons I’ve been pushing for North Yorkshire to be one of the pilot areas for superfast broadband because I think it would bring huge advantages to towns and villages, particularly rural ones like so many in my constituency. It would allow new businesses to be set-up, allow more jobs to be created and allow more people to learn from home – something that is just not possible without a high quality internet connection.
I know this is going to be a long process but I am delighted that Jeremy Hunt recognises the importance of connecting our homes and businesses online – not just some of them and not just at low speeds.
We need to break down the digital divide that currently exists between those who can read this website easily and those who may have given up trying long before this text ever appeared.
( 11 comments ) Tags: broadband, Jeremy Hunt, North Yorkshire, Skipton and Ripon
Comment by cyberdoyle on August 4, 2010 at 10:13 am
Hi Julian
we are all working with final third first group to make NGA come to rural areas. The biggest thing coming up is the Rural broadband Conference at Rheged on September 18th, please check it out and come and join Rory Stewart and all the other movers and shakers on the rural scene with solutions to the notspots. Its gonna be great, and working together we can fix the problems We need politicians with grit. It isn’t a case of funding in most cases, its a case of joining dots, out of the box thinking and sensible legislation. We CANDO IT.
http://www.rorystewart.co.uk/broadband/
Comment by Kings Hill Resident on August 4, 2010 at 10:36 am
You should take a look at Kings Hill in Kent. A wonderful modern village with thousands of residents and all the mod cons….. but for decent broadband. <1Mb for the majority. Enterprising companies are starting to offer wireless alternatives but the costs are very high and the infrastructure still does not reach all. 3G modems instead I hear people say? we have horrendous mobile reception too I'm afraid.
Comment by Tony Maund on August 4, 2010 at 1:53 pm
Fully agree. A better solution than go the route that the previous government were advocating is needed. Rather than throw loads of public money at it, selective improvements with the right initiatives will be a much wiser and cost effective solution. I am an experienced computer and broadband user. I am pretty fortunate being in a “better” area which is not too far from Kings Hill Surely a commercially led investment would improve access speeds and frequencies. So a little more investment in terms of link width and speed ( I was a business systems consultant before I retired in 2002) will be necessary but the Uk does need a shot in the arm for this. Someone really needs to do something about the relatively stone age infrastructure we are running. I regularly download. I always use public servers when I download as they are free. The ones in America are about 3 times faster than the ones in the UK generally and inevitably it is nearly always BT’s lines that are the problem
Living in Kent It’s crazy that I am forced to use a public server in Seattle (Washington state US West Coast) rather than one in Maidenhead which is only about 100 miles away.
Comment by Nick Peters on August 4, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Rural Sussex, parts of Berkshire and the Solent are brilliantly served by a wireless provider http://www.kijoma.net who, for £25pcm gives me 17mbps down and 10mbps up. When the network is upgraded later this year I expect 40mbps down. I have cancelled my BT line and now do everything over VOIP.
Ed Vaizey knows about this because I told him and he promised to invite this highly innovative engineer/entrepreneur to his July 15th broadband conference, except his officials cocked it up, he was never asked how he can achieve such startling results so cheaply, and so another opportunity to widen the debate was lost.
This wireless solution is NOT expensive to build because there’s no infrastructure required, it is tried and tested here, in the USA and Australia and it definitely has the potential to plug very large gaps in the nation’s broadband map. And to those who question the reliability of wireless and potential susceptibility to weather, we have had one very short outage in 5 months.
Any politician who wants to serve their community properly on this should give Kijoma a call. The owner’s name is Bill Lewis. Oh, and he serves this very large area on his own…one admin person and a freelance aerial installer and that’s it. Achieving better broadband for Britain is NOT a major task, it does NOT require public money and we should be very sceptical of any movement that involves handing BT chunks of our cash to rip up roads and plant ugly green boxes every few hundred yards (which is what this fibre upgrade involves).
Comment by Philip James on August 4, 2010 at 5:44 pm
Why not do what they have done in Sweden, there they use radio for broadband signal. You can have it on the masts instead of costly mile by mile digging.
Comment by Greychatter on August 4, 2010 at 6:00 pm
How difficult would it be to comple the Utility companies to install fibre optic cables every time they dig up a length of road for water, electric or gas. The cost of the cable could be funded from the huge profits these companies are making from their domestic customers. They constantly plead the need for increases to fund new investment that is one way they could show they are interested in their customers who fund them.
Maybe its time we saw some give and take from these companies instead of them always being on the Take.
Comment by John Abbott on August 5, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Could not agree more.
Comment by Jonathan Reeves on August 5, 2010 at 9:32 pm
It is unbelievable that their are still homes who have to dial up or have no connection at all to broadband.
This is something we take for granted even though many of us still have limited capability it is still better than none at all.
It must be a priority to ensure broadband for all, with so many people working from home and even starting there own businesses it is surely a necessity.
Comment by FibreGuy on August 6, 2010 at 12:45 am
NextGenUs deployed the first FiWi Notspot elimination project in North Yorkshire, the NANDS project which went live on March 1 2010.
The project uses part of a fibre optic internet feed to a local school, enabled by NYNet Ltd, 100% North Yorks County Council owned.
In what is not so much Final Third as Final three hundredth, in terms of difficulty of terrain and low population density, the NANDS project was delivered with £25k NYCC funding matched by NextGenUs UK CIC.
For the majority of rural parishes, in less challenging locations, the business model to fully privately fund projects based on customer commitment to take service is ready to roll.
The problem with BDUK Market Testing is that it is very testing, in so far as such premature intervention into a market that isn’t failing ironically causes deployment delays by distorting the market and chilling private sector investment.
A moratorium is required to suspend all broadband grants until 2012 to allow Private Enterprise every opportunity to deliver before considering Taxpayer Funded intervention.
We simply don’t have the luxury to indulge meaningful amounts of Public Money to delivering NGA – it is simply up to local communities to step up and demand service and the 4th Utility will be built.
As Jeremy Hunt pointed out at the recent BDU\k Industry Day, South Korea, held up as the world leader for future proof NGA was 95% Private sector funded.
Comment by David Hollins on August 7, 2010 at 4:37 pm
This is just another example of middle class welfare. affluent townies moving out into the countryside, who expect everyone to subsidise their rural lifestyle. No-one makes anyone live in the countryside – if you choose, you can pay the extra costs associated with it or go without.
Comment by Mark on August 9, 2010 at 5:57 pm
I think David Hollins is wrong. Broadband has the potential to move jobs to the countryside and out of the cities, reducing commuting and congestion. It can be used to reduce driving to out of town shopping malls by shopping online, with optimised truck delivery routes. It’s a green technology. Recognising that is part of the key to funding it.