Bridging the various digital divides
01 June 2009
There are many digital divides: a lack of access to basic broadband (say 512 kbit/s) which are the so-called 'not spots'; a lack of access to medium speed broadband (say 2 Mbit/s) which is what the Digital Britain proposal for a universal broadband commitment is seeking to address; a lack of access to super fast broadband (say more than the 24 Mbit/s that one can obtain from ADSL2+); and - very importantly - a lack of take-up even where there is access (some 40% of homes still do not take broadband at any speed).
The Communications Consumer Panel is engaged in all these debates and tracks all the latest data to show the extent of the various divides and the reasons for them. The most recent data was research published by the BBC which includes a map of the UK showing where it is not possible to receive either 0.5 Mbit/s or 2 Mbit/s. According to this research, about three million homes have broadband speeds of less than 2 Mbit/s.
This is the sort of speed that one will need to access the promised Project Canvas services and highlights the need for the sort of universal broadband commitment being considered by the Government.