Attitudes divide
By The Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG) in Industry
Posted in Digital divide on
Last week the Communications Consumer Panel published research that found that public support for broadband is strong, with over 80% of respondents believing that it should be everyone’s right to have access to broadband, regardless of where they live. 42% of those questioned who do not have broadband believe access is essential.
This would appear to be an impressive level of support, and reflects UK citizens’ position as the most active broadband population in Europe. However, this week Ofcom offered a slightly different version of events.
According to their research, 30% of adults do not have Internet access at home; 43% of those felt they had no need for it, or felt that Internet access held no interest for them.
Of course, these results are not incompatible, and allowing for questioning bias and other factors support what previous studies have found - digital exclusion is found in those without means and those who feel they have no need (the self-excluded).
There was a renewed emphasis in the Digital Britain Interim Report (iDBR) on increasing take-up of broadband, as part of the government’s commitment to a broadband universal service. So, as the publication of Digital Britain draws ever nearer, what do these studies tell us?
The Ofcom study in particular shows the challenge that lies ahead. When given options for policies that would encourage take-up, such as cheap computers and discounted Internet connections, a third of those with no access said none of the ideas appealed. Broadband simply held no interest for them.
Amongst the remainder, no particular idea stood out, reflecting the broad range of reasons why some don’t have broadband (financial concerns, lack of skills, lack of available infrastructure, no need and so on).
Providing the infrastructure through delivering the broadband universal service commitment is only part of the equation for government. They must also, with the help of other stakeholders, drive usage and take-up of the infrastructure. We wait to see what the final Digital Britain Report has to offer to this debate.
Peter Shearman, Policy Manager, BSG
Not yet rated
Loading ...Trackback by - November 3, 2011 on 9:43 pm
Tumblr article…
I saw someone talking about this on Tumblr and it linked to…
Trackback by - December 27, 2011 on 8:03 pm
Reviewer…
Hi!, I have gone ahead and bookmarked your page on Digg so my friends can see it too. I just used your blog title as the title in my bookmark, as I figured if it is good enough for you to title your blog post that, then you probably would like to see i…
Trackback by - February 9, 2012 on 3:52 am
will smith poster seven pounds…
[…]have one of each pair” or even “I really feel not at the moment being my mouth area guard, I am specified that our canine […]…
Trackback by - February 9, 2012 on 7:56 am
will smith scientology 2009…
[…]his family members and hundreds of countless numbers of worldwide supporters, campaigners and celebs wait around patiently […]…
Make a comment
Tag cloud
Most commented posts
- Digital Region project moves to the next stage
7 comments
- Ofcom publishes broadband speeds report
- The importance of speed?
- The broadband speed debate
- Broadband - flavour of the month
- What is impacting on broadband speeds in the UK?
- Broadband in the Budget
- Attitudes divide
- PlusNet highlight ISP costs
- Ofcom the best regulator in Europe?
Highest Rated Blog Posts
- PlusNet highlight ISP costs (100%)
- Convergence Think Tank to start thinking, but what about? (100%)
- 'Warning: may contain offensive material' (100%)
- BT announce £1.5bn fibre deployment (100%)
- One small step from BT, one giant leap from Virgin Media? (100%)
- Ofcom publishes broadband speeds report (100%)
- Can the sewers deliver? (90%)
- NGA - would you pay? (80%)
- KPN to open its FTTH network to competitors (80%)
- Digital Region project moves to the next stage (60%)
