ICT infrastructure is a big part of the government’s commitment over the coming years, for the simple reason that internet access is no longer considered a luxury. Although it may not be a necessity for 21st century 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 vital 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 city areas and do not have the high-speed internet access that these places enjoy are subject to a significant disadvantage in a variety of ways. Some may be stuck 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 groups to club together and gain the benefits of web connectivity that other people enjoy routinely – benefits that spread from the home to work, increasing opportunities and standards of life as they go.

These Next Generation Access projects can be created by groups of households, who just want to get online for their own personal use, or by clusters of companies who recognise that their businesses will benefit greatly from the new opportunities they will have. They may want to do something as simple as make a website to attract 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 uneven around the country, with the best internet access available in city centres. Although much of the UK is connected to the web, the quality and speed of this differs significantly. In many cases the ICT infrastructure uses old technology – the phone companies’ copper cables, which were put in 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 totally 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.

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

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