Tim Farron MP - The UK rural broadband problem

An article in the Guardian showcasing a rural broadband initiative concludes:

It's a problem replicated all over the less populated parts of the country, said Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale in Cumbria: "Every day I get a phone call or a letter from a constituent who is dealing with internet access that is non-existent. It makes it difficult for people to access services or run a business. Decent broadband is key to creating more well paid jobs and more investment and at the moment BT and the government's broadband roll out is failing rural areas. Even many of those areas that are supposedly getting support are only going to get 2MBps download speed and less than 1MBps upload – this is completely inadequate; we need broadband infrastructure that is future proof, not a sticking plaster."

The article refers to a Public Accounts Committee report which reveals that BT is likely to benefit to the tune of £1,2 billion from public funds having gained all of the 20 rural broadband contracts from local authorities to date.

Here's what was said nearly a decade ago in a call on government to support self sustaining social enterprise, and the community investment business approach:

"UK government intends to make broadband available to 100% of the population by 2005, an objective which cannot be realised by the primary broadband provider in UK , BritishTelecom. Whilst during most of the course of preparing this document BT ma intained the 2005 target, they have now pushed that target to 2006 at the earliest. Even then, it has been conceded that rural customers are likely to have inferior service for years to come. This in turn stands to create a new digital divide between urban users with faster Internet speeds and rural users with slower speeds. P-CED's plan allows for much faster broadband rollout with broadband speeds immediately equal to or greater than BT's present offerings."

"Service will be available to individuals and community organizations wishing to acquire broadband access, particularly in rural areas where few if any access options are available. With the present complexity of Internet and high bandwidth demands of many web sites, lower b andwidth connectio ns are becoming obsolete. Not only has Internet access become an essential information and communication mode, it has also become sufficiently sophisticated as to require broadband access to provide people with eyes to the world . There is a strong push at government policy level across UK and the EU for full broadband access. Rural locations will continue to be of secondary importance to traditional commercial enterprises providing broadband, yet collectively represent a multi-billion pound per year market. They are merely harder to develop and not as immediately lucrative for conventional commercial schemes as urba n centre s. Desp ite concerted government efforts to press broadband into rural areas, these markets are likely to remain underdeveloped for years to come without specific, focussed intervention, particularly in new EU entrants."

Introduced as a franchise model to ICOF, Social Enterprise London and SWRDA in 2004, it was something for which they could offer no support. It also made a call on government:

"While the vast majority of people in poverty suffer quietly and with little protest, it is not safe to assume that everyone will react the same way. When in defence of family and friends, it is completely predictable that it should be only a matter of time until uprisings become sufficient to imperil an entire nation or region of the world. People with nothing have nothing to lose. Poverty was therefore deemed not only a moral catastrophe but also a time bomb waiting to explode."

"Traditional capitalism is an insufficient economic model allowing monetary outcomes as the bottom line with little regard to social needs. Bottom line must be taken one step further by at least some companies, past profit, to people. How profits are used is equally as important as creation of profits. Where profits can be brought to bear by willing individuals and companies to social benefit, so much the better. Moreover, this activity must be recognized and supported at government policy level as a badly needed, essential, and entirely legitimate enterprise activity.”

Extract from P-CED Business Plan 2004

What hope is there of economic recovery when both the warnings and opportunities are actively disregarded by a comfortable elite?