Broadband worry for rural Northumberland

Posted by The Journal on Jun 1, 09 10:45 AM in News

Many rural areas of Northumberland still have poor or no access to broadband internet services, a new study has revealed.

The map, produced by website BroadbandSpeedChecker.co.uk, reveals black holes in broadband access throughout Northumberland and County Durham.

Broadband in rural areas

Lack of access to fast broadband is creating social exclusion, as well as harming business in rural areas, experts said.

The Government has said that by 2012 all homes should have access to broadband at speeds of at least 2mb.

But the map shows that many areas still only have access to speeds of less than 512kb, while some have no broadband at all.

And Lib Dem MP for Berwick, Sir Alan Beith said: "There are still areas which have no access to broadband, particularly round parts of Rothbury, but also large parts of the rest of Northumberland, in areas like Coquetdale.

"It could really help the local economy if broadband was available for all, particularly people who work from home.

"The Government should be doing more to get more access, the technology is there to do it. There is really no argument."

Northumberland County Councillor for Rothbury, Steve Bridgett, said: "Years ago we were promised faster broadband, not just for Rothbury itself but for the more rural areas around it. That hasn't happened.

"Speeds in the village have got better but there has been nothing for the surrounding areas.

"There are still large parts with no broadband, it's about time something was done, the internet is such a big part of peoples lives these days."

Stoker Frater, who is on the Northumberland council of the North East National Farmers Union, said businesses could be under threat if access to broadband isn't improved. He said: "Farms with no broadband are at a disadvantage, particularly if they want to diversify, which is essential with the way things are.

"It is vital that farmers can access as many markets as possible, and those without broadband can really struggle.

"Any new business needs to have a website and if you don't have broadband, how do you do that?

"So much is now done online, even something like filling in forms from Defra now has to be done online and that can be difficult. Poor internet access is one more thing that could send a farmer out of business."

North East England broadband map And Charles Trotman, head of rural business development at the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said there was danger from a growing divide between urban and rural areas and social exclusion in areas with no broadband access.

Mr Trotman is heading a campaign by the CLA to highlight the impact of poor broadband on rural communities.

He said: "Northumberland, like a lot of other parts of the country has areas where there is no broadband access or speeds are slow. It is not just business that suffers.

"Children have to do their homework at least partly using the internet.

"If they have to get the bus to their nearest library to be able to do homework, there is only one word for that. That is social exclusion."

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1 Comments

Tim Rolls said:

Re "If they have to get the bus to their nearest library to be able to do homework, there is only one word for that. That is social exclusion."

What bus?
What Library?
What Planet is he on?

"Social exclusion" is two words

But the point is, children's homework is increasingly on line, and they are disadvantaged by this difference in access. The technology is available, wirelessly, and probably more cheaply than relaying thousands of miles of cable as fibre optic in such a sparsely populated region. Trouble is, because of the small and spread out population there aren't enough votes in it to move things forward. Scotland does it, (e.g. see www.tegola.org.uk) why can't we?

June 5, 2009 5:22 PM