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Moderator: Prof. Jon Fairburn. Broadband: The Impact on Rural Economies. Broadband: The Impact on Rural Economies. Katrina Manegold Staffordshire County Council. Superfast Staffordshire Katrina Manegold. The Rollout of Superfast Broadband in Staffordshire Katrina Manegold.
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Moderator: Prof. Jon Fairburn Broadband: The Impact on Rural Economies
Broadband: The Impact on Rural Economies Katrina Manegold Staffordshire County Council
Superfast Staffordshire Katrina 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
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 Xbox Bebo / YouTube HD Cookery: 12 Mbps HD Smart TV Video Conferencing
Benefits to Business • 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 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
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