Broadband

Written by Malcolm Bruce MP and published in Parliamentary Monitor on Fri 30th Jan 2004

Something is unavailable to the majority of my constituents. It has provoked communities to unite, more letters on any recent single issue and general fury and frustration throughout my Aberdeenshire constituency, which has a large, evenly distributed rural population. Is it access to school places? More hospital beds? CAP payments?

It is, of course, broadband.

After a shaky start, the demand for broadband services has sky rocketed in the last couple of years. The headline figures proclaimed by Government and service providers are impressive: a 200 per cent increase in take-up between October 2002 and November 2003; broadband access at home for 6 million people; terrestrial services available to 84% of households.

Look closer at the facts and the picture looks a little different however. Broadband services are available to 99% of the urban population but to only 51% in market towns and 16% in rural villages. To those living in non-urban areas broadband appears to be another example of the technological- and potentially economic- divide widening between rural and urban areas.

In the short-term perhaps, but not in the long-term. BT recently announced a target of 100% broadband coverage in the UK by the end of 2005.

The 10 per cent of the population living in the most remote regions will present the greatest challenge to the 2005 target and it is here that public/private sector partnerships will prove most valuable. The devolved administrations, Regional Development Agencies and local authorities have their role to play in pushing broadband into the furthest corners of the British isles.

For the last 10 per cent, broadband via ADSL technology will never be a viable option. BT dominates among the service providers but there is space for other entrants, notably those prepared to offer alternatives to ADSL technology. Wireless and satellite services have already been successfully trialled and will prove to be significant contributors to the 2005 target being met.

By stimulating demand for broadband services the market has already made big inroads without assistance from the Government. Britain may lag behind countries such as Korea, Japan and Sweden in broadband deployment but it should be remembered that they have done so through public ownership, subsidies and regulatory incentives.

Unnecessary intervention at huge cost to the taxpayer would be wrong, but if the Government intends to leave broadband rollout to the market a core component of that strategy should also be the development of innovation and competitiveness in the UK technology sector.

As the Broadband Stakeholders Group note, it is vital that the Government encourages latent UK talent to exploit the growing global market for broadband-enabled media, content applications and services. If it fails to do so those countries which have intervened will have a head-start in introducing next generation technology and a clear competitive advantage.

As business moves away from the confines of bricks and mortar, we will also witness a small revolution in the way people work and live. It will no longer be necessary for an organisation to have its offices in cities or close to traditional infrastructure. When looking to relocate they will prioritise broadband availability and quality of life for their work force above twentieth century restraints.

Small businesses will also gain out of the broadband revolution. Architects, designers and publishers will have the freedom to work where they choose knowing that high-bandwidth will allow large and detailed documents to be sent on a mouse-click.

The Government has recognised the potential of broadband enabled remote and flexible working. The next step is to consider broadband as a significant contributor when formulating communication, transport and enterprise policies.

As broadband rolls out across the country the technological iron curtain between urban and rural areas will begin to lift and wealth and jobs can flood back into the countryside. It must not remain between economic classes however and another challenge is to ensure no one is left behind as the country takes its big technological leap forward.

The Government are spending £1 billion to bring broadband to the public sector, and as disadvantaged and older people are the heaviest users of public services these vulnerable groups could benefit most out of the Government's initiative.

The market will fail to reach groups further down the economic scale in the same way it will fail to reach remote areas of the country. The Government has chosen not to impose a universal service obligation on broadband service providers so the responsibility falls to them to ensure no one is excluded because of economic reasons.

The intention to establish a Digital Inclusion Panel to encourage the use of online public services and promote digital inclusion is to be welcomed. Broadband services available in libraries, schools and hospitals have the potential to become gateways into education, employment and communication for less advantaged members of our society and its deployment should rightly be a matter of urgency.

At the local level communities should be able to take advantage of the public procurement process by inviting bids from the private sector. In this way local people will get the best deal while stimulating the market further.