IT chiefs should be leading broadband initiatives for UK 'not-spots'

Arguing that local councils have the power to promote or improve the economic and social well-being of their area, in which access to broadband now plays an essential role, Socitm Insight's latest briefing suggests that IT chiefs are the council managers best qualified to lead initiatives to deliver broadband.

Rural broadband: superfast or superslow? is published as the deadline approaches for councils to apply to the Government's Broadband Delivery UK office (BDUK) for funding to improve broadband services in the UK. It urges local authorities not to give up on the national broadband programme, but rather to use it as something to build on, while developing their own initiatives to make what money there is stretch much further.

Public sector agencies must work together, says the briefing, to make the most of existing assets by overcoming legal and commercial barriers. Re-use of existing infrastructure, including ducts and public service networks will be essential to drive down costs and to make the limited investment go further. Exploitation of new technology, reuse of analogue signal, 4G, higher take up, and satellite, can all be deployed as part of the local mix.

Rural broadband: superfast or superslow? is available free of charge to Socitm Insight subscribers at: http://www.socitm.net/downloads/download/504/socitm_insight_briefing_37