Category: Technology

Next generation access helps ensure our wealth and our health

While a handful of underground stations in London have begun offering a free Wifi service to tube travellers, much of the rest of the nation is only just catching up above ground. It might be expected that Britain’s capital, soon to be host to the Olympic games, would offer the best in internet speed but it would be totally unjust if rural Britain were left lagging behind in future. Indeed, though we are suffering the effects of an economic programme of austerity it is important that money is not withdrawn from projects designed to improve next generation access and community broadband. Because, as people face joblessness, pay cuts, and ‘streamlined’ conditions of employment, many of the most enterprising will take it upon themselves to set up small businesses, sell unwanted or handmade goods, and even try going it alone in the freelance world. All of the above are good survival strategies when the state fails to provide us with support. But many of these strategies rely on strong ICT infrastructure.

So it emerges that excellent connectivity would boost the whole of Britain and not only those living in London and within commuting distance. Beyond the opportunity to be more business-minded, better access to the internet also helps build a more cohesive society. Web forums full of sympathy and counsel have helped many a person get through a whole range of difficulties from hands-on DIY technical hitches to emotional splits and stressful exam times. In fact, access to the internet is of increasing importance to young and old single people who are so busy in their professional lives and so set in their social habits that they find online dating the most effective and fun way to find a lover or friend.

And we hardly want to deny wonderful romantic adventures and friends to people on the sole grounds of them having poor internet service. next generation access should definitely be evenly distributed and fast will be thanks to progressive improvements in the UK’s investment in ICT infrastructure. Obviously, community broadband projects will not only help solve the local issues described above. They will also encourage British citizens to stay abreast of international goings-on and current affairs, stay in touch with friends, family and business partners abroad, and, crucially, get access to information, educational resources, entertainment and work.

Please visit http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/

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Next Generation Access Promises Change

Things are looking up for rural web users as community broadband steps up to the plate with the launch of next generation access to online services. The UK’s ICT infrastructure is developing at a fast pace, and will soon allow web users to access their favourite sites far quicker than ever before.

For a long time, internet users in rural areas have been severely disadvantaged, in comparison with users from urban areas. While traditional ‘dial-up’ internet still works as well as ever in the countryside, the increased speed of broadband services – not to mention the uncluttered phone line which broadband frees up – mean that the vast majority of users are always looking to improve their internet access with broadband services. However, the extremely different services experienced by inhabitants living in broadband ‘hot spots’ and those living in broadband ‘not spots’ are so far apart that the variation has been termed a ‘digital divide.’ Shockingly, those with connections in the ‘not spots’ pay exactly the same price for their internet connections as those in ‘hot spots,’ despite the inferior service that they receive.

The average speed of internet access, considered acceptable for everyday use at home, is 8 to 10 megabytes per second – but this figure is far from being universal. At the moment, around 4,000 households in the UK have no broadband access at all, as a result of their rural location. And there are another 2.5 million houses which only receive web access at a speed of 2.5 megabytes per second. This speed of access means that streaming videos – for instance on YouTube or on TV networks’ ‘catch up’ services – is just impossible for many country dwellers.

Luckily, more and more people in these rural households are finding solutions to this inequality. Many rural communities are forming co-operative ways of achieving faster broadband; for instance, creating their own ISPs (internet service providers) by buying their own cable connections. These are pricey, but the collaboration of local businesses or well-off residents also wins them a stake in an enterprise which may well provide returns on their investments.

This type of collaboration is known as a community broadband project, in which inhabitants of a certain region join up to find internet solutions through the power of numbers. And the prospect of next generation access, in which fibre optics will replace some of the slower copper cable through which broadband currently runs, may well change the UK’s ICT infrastructure for good.

Please visit http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/

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