Broadband: The Impacton Rural Economies

Moderator: Prof. Jon Fairburn

Katrina ManegoldStaffordshire County Council

Broadband: The Impact on Rural Economies

Superfast StaffordshireKatrina Manegold

The Rollout of Superfast Broadband in Staffordshire

Katrina Manegold

The Government’s Ambition

• For Britain to have “the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015”

• £790m government investment to fill the gaps in broadband provision

• 44 local broadband projects• National target for superfast (24mbps

or more): • 90% by 2015; 95% by 2017

Why do the government want to do this?

Fast reliable broadband internet access is:

• Essential for homes throughout the country to benefit from online services

• Essential for UK businesses to compete globally

The Big Build – it’s a

BIG job!

What is happening in Staffordshire?

By Spring 2016:

• 97% of premises with access to a fibre based network• 95% of premises are projected to have access to superfast broadband

(>24Mbps)• All premises that are in the project area will receive a minimum of 2Mbps

Some important milestones:

• Spring 2014 – The commercial network should be complete• April 2014 – The first of the Superfast Staffordshire cabinets to go live• Nine phases in the project at three monthly intervals• Spring 2016 – Completion

Where and when are we rolling out fibre broadband across Staffordshire?

Benefits in the home

Bebo / YouTube

Video Conferencing

Xbox

HD Smart TV

HD Cookery: 12 Mbps

Increasing competitive edge• Improving web presence• Improving customer experience• Enabling expansion• Rural areas can compete with

urban areas

Cost Savings• Hosted and site based VoIP• Better video conferencing

• Rural business does not need to relocate

• Utilise the cloud

Improving productivity• Faster speeds• Easier to work from home• Better reliability• Carry out bandwidth hungry

tasks simultaneously

Benefits to Business

Have SMEs noticed the benefits?

• Two thirds of UK businesses increased their use of online technology 2011-3

• Most frequently mentioned advantages – time savings, broadening customer reach, increased market effectiveness and cost savings

• 51% reported an increase in sales as a result of Internet use• Businesses who have taken steps to build online capabilities

are keen to develop further