Broadband Breakthrough?

Speech by Norman Lamb MP on Thu 3rd Jul 2003

I make no apologies for returning to the subject of broadband internet access, which I covered in this supplement last year. 2003 has seen significant progress towards getting more of rural Norfolk 'hooked up' to broadband, but there remains a long way to go.

It was no surprise when the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee's July report on rural broadband concluded that there exists a 'digital divide', with urban and suburban communities enjoying far better provision.

Earlier this year, North Walsham reached the trigger level (350 customer registrations) required for BT to provide broadband in the town, after a lot of work by local campaigners. I look forward immensely to my constituency office in North Walsham being connected! This was the first exchange in North Norfolk to reach the trigger level, a sign of how towns and villages in rural areas have been left behind. There has also been a success for the Binham Broadband campaign, one of twenty-one local groups recently given funding by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to provide communities with broadband. Businesses in the villages of Binham, Field Dalling, Saxlingham and Langham will thus reap its rewards.

While this is excellent news, it only scratches the problem's surface. The fact remains that most of Norfolk is still without broadband. Rural businesses are losing out through having to use slower, less reliable dial-up connections. BT recently announced that it will upgrade several more telephone exchanges in Norfolk (including Stalham, Cromer and Sheringham) if they receive 500 customer registrations in each location. Furthermore, BT should take up the Country Land Association's suggestion of setting reasonable trigger levels for every exchange, so that - as happened in North Walsham - local people and businesses have an achievable target. EEDA is providing a welcome lead, and must be commended for its Broadband Brokerage scheme which provides suppliers with an idea of demand levels in different communities.

Hopefully this will all lead to greater local awareness of broadband's advantages, and to suppliers recognising that there is a significant enough appetite for broadband in these areas to make its provision viable. A snowball effect will however not be enough. What is needed is a concerted national push towards a 'broadband Britain'. The Government is often encouraging us all to access more services and do more business online. Now is the time for this to become reality across rural as well as urban Britain.