Parish councils in Dorset are being invited to help Dorset Council influence future government policies on improving broadband in the county’s hardest to reach areas.
The government is currently carrying out two consultations on the provision of broadband in rural areas.
One is on how to tackle improving connectivity in the hardest to reach rural areas and, the other consultation, is to see if changes need to be made to its policy on helping households and businesses that have internet speeds of under 10mbps. That policy is called the Universal Service Obligation.
Here are some key facts about rural connectivity and digital exclusion:
• The delivery of public and private services to rural and remote areas is challenging as more of these services move online. Poor connectivity is compounded by remoteness and poor public transport. There is a substantial risk that very hard to reach communities may be left behind.
• Evidence provided by the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (INCA) suggested that 16% of rural premises had a broadband download speed under 10 Mbps.
• Due to poor connectivity in very hard to reach areas, households and businesses are unable to access opportunities in education, skills, training and employment.
• Data collated by Defra shows that rural residents are more likely to work from home than their urban counterparts. However, for those with poor broadband, are finding it difficult to take full advantage of this trend, facing further exclusion from society.
• Poor digital connectivity has a negative impact on the productivity of some rural businesses and is a barrier to diversification and increasing revenue.
• One-in-four agricultural businesses have below 10 Mbps, significantly higher than the UK average
Dorset Council will be responding to both consultations and would like to include evidence from parish councils to give the government a clear view of how poor broadband is affecting our communities.
We have extracted the most pertinent questions from the consultation documents that we would like you to answer. You can view them and submit your answers here:
https://dorset-self.achieveservice.com/service/uso
https://dorset-self.achieveservice.com/service/vhtr
Links to the full consultation documents can also be found in the above links. Please submit your answers by 22 November to help Dorset Council complete its report, which needs to be with the government by 27 November.
If you have any questions please email
