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Broadband access drive 'tackles social exclusion'
Wednesday 22nd July 2009, by Daniel King
Making sure everyone in the UK has access to two megabits per second broadband by 2012 is about more than ensuring the whole population has the ability to log on to the internet, it has been claimed.
The Digital Britain objective will help to tackle wider problems surrounding education, finance and society, said national director at DC10plus Stephen Dodson at the Westminster eForum keynote seminar Broadband for All?
"It actually isn't about digital participation," he said. "It's actually about tackling the big core social, economic, environmental [issues] and better service delivery."
Mr Dodson noted £57.7 billion a year is spent on addressing social exclusion and a further £14.5 billion on IT. He suggested finances could be more effectively used if government agencies collaborated and thought innovatively to try and address a number of issues and problems in one go.
Held on July 16th at Adelaide House, London, the Broadband for All? seminar looked at how the technical challenge of delivering a minimum speed of two megabits across the country could be overcome particularly in areas where the infrastructure would struggle to support it.
In June, the Commission for Rural Communities launched a report that identified a number of areas that needed to be tackled by the government to ensure countryside residents had access to sustainable communication.
Four main priorities the publication looked at were education and lifelong learning, business development, social and community cohesion - and equitable access to services.
Although the organisation noted broadband brings social, economic and cultural benefits, it also found new services and demands were placing excessive strains on existing infrastructures in rural areas.
Categories: Broadband
