ICT infrastructure is a major part of the government’s commitment over the coming years, for the simple reason that internet access is no longer viewed as a luxury. Although it may not be a necessity for modern life in the same way that electricity is, it is not far off. In this sense, broadband is more like a utility than a luxury service. It is critical to the success of many businesses, as well as the day-to-day activities of the majority of the UK population. Those who do not live in urban areas and do not have the high-speed internet access that these places have are subject to a significant disadvantage in a number of ways. Some may be left with old technology and speeds that are literally dial-up in nature – or might as well be. Fortunately, help is at hand due to Next Generation Access initiatives. These community broadband projects allow people to club together and gain the benefits of web connectivity that other people enjoy without thinking – benefits that spread from the home to work, raising opportunities and standards of life as they go.
These Next Generation Access projects can be purchased by groups of households, who simply want to get online for their own personal use, or by clusters of companies who know that their businesses will benefit enormously from the new opportunities they will have. They may wish to do something as simple as create a website to bring in new customers, or it may be something that uses the internet as an integral part of what they do – essentially, enabling a business that could not have existed without internet access.
Connectivity is still patchy around the country, with the best internet access found in city centres. Although much of the UK is connected to the web, the quality and speed of this varies significantly. In many cases the ICT infrastructure uses outdated technology – the phone companies’ copper cables, which were installed decades ago and for very different reasons. Although the web began life making the most of these cables, it has long since outgrown them and they are utterly unsuited to the demands of today’s web traffic. community broadband changes all this. Next Generation Access is a way for everyone to enjoy what the rest of the country takes for granted and rarely questions (until it goes wrong): fast, cheap and reliable internet access.
Please visit http://www.broadbandvantage.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.