Umbrella company contractors hampered by poor broadband connections could welcome recent government announcements.
At the beginning of this week, the coalition laid down its plans to improve broadband coverage throughout the UK.
The government has promised that by the end of this parliament, every community will have a digital hub and £50 million has been earmarked for trialling the strategy.
Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, admitted that our broadband infrastructure lags behind that of other countries. For example, in South Korea, 65% of subscribers have access to continuous connections running above 5 Mbps compared to just 15% in Britain.
A total of £830 million has been set aside by the government for rolling out broadband projects and BT has confirmed that it will match that amount if it wins the contracts to provide the digital hubs’ infrastructure.
Although BT intends to extend its fibre optic network to cover just under two thirds of the UK (66%), only 25% of those householders will be able to access the new faster Fibre-To-The-Home technology.
However, the FSB is concerned that rural firms will suffer under the new proposals. John Walker, the national chairman of the FSB, said that the Federation is pleased that action is being taken to improve broadband coverage but the government is not taking the problems suffered by small, rural businesses seriously.
All areas, except London, have problems with broadband access and slow speeds and the FSB thinks more should money should be invested in high-speed fibre-optic broadband.
Walker explained that the government says it doesn’t make business sense for providers to invest in broadband in rural Britain. However, rural firms must have reliable broadband access to help their business grow and take on additional staff to generate more income for the UK economy.
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Image: Transport by MrsMinifig
