A national commitment to extend 2 Mb per second broadband to all is inadequate, as many UK residents are already able to get over 50 Mb per second.

An independent study commissioned by the Department for Communities and Local Government suggests there is a high risk of many parts of Sussex and South Kent remaining off the high speed network proposed for 90% of UK homes.

"Locally, it’s not merely a matter of a rural/urban divide", said Ian Chisnall, chair of Wealden LSP, "As with the national picture, rural locations are most likely to miss out when compared to urban centres, but in Wealden there are likely to be rural areas that are plugged in, and others -a majority - that are not; and likewise our towns will probably not be equally served. We believe that providing true equity will require significantly more money to be invested – perhaps as much as £2–2.3 billion.

"High speed broadband is needed everywhere.  You need it if you're a teenager keeping up with friends through social networking sites or carrying out homework assignments which assume that all students have access to the internet.  You need its improved upload speeds if you're a business whether you're trading internationally or a farmer compelled to file VAT returns online or report livestock transfers.  And increasingly, the internet is becoming the minimum-fuss way of accessing public services and ordering goods you can't get locally."

The LSP, which is a public, business and voluntary sector partnership, is responding the Government's consultation on the Next Generation of super-fast broadband provision.  It has focused its consultation response on people who use high-powered internet facilities, such as young people, business and developing areas such as 'tele-medicine'.  In Wealden, 80% of businesses employ fewer than four people, many working from home or away from sites where high-speed broadband is provided commercially.  However, as internet content is increasingly designed with the expectation of high speed broadband, the web will become infuriatingly slow for general users too.

Wealden needs excellent communications to ease the problems of poor transport and other infrastructure weaknesses. It does not need its rural isolation to be compounded with deficient communications networks.  The LSP is asking for an equitable and universal service.

Notes for editors:

The full Wealden LSP response is available at:

www.wealdencommunitystrategy.co.uk/wealdencommunitystrategywhatsnew.aspx

The consultation document is available at:

www.bis.gov.uk/Consultations/proposals-for-a-next-generation-fund?

In essence the consultation is about how to spend the proposed £1 billion 'Next Generation Fund'.  The government predicts that 70% of homes will be provided next generation broadband by the market alone.  It currently proposes to use the fund to extend next generation coverage by 20% to cover 90% of homes by 2017.  The remaining 10% will be the most expensive to provide for because of a combination of distances and demand, but clearly many people and businesses in these areas will be challenged without it.

Next Generation broadband is separate from the 2 Mb/second universal commitment, although both are linked to the 2009 'Digital Britain' report.  2 Mb/second will quickly become what a 56 Kb/second modem is today.

Wealden Local Strategic Partnership members are:

3VA

Action in Rural Sussex

Churches Together in Sussex

Downland Affinity Sutton

East Sussex County Council

East Sussex Fire and Rescue

Environment Agency

Federation of Small Businesses

Freedom Leisure

Highways Agency

National Farmers Union

NHS Primary Care Trust

South Downs Joint Committee

Sussex Police

Town and Parish Council representatives

Wealden District Council

Contact:

Ian Chisnall

Chair of Wealden Local Strategic Partnership

07976 811654

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Tom Stuart

Policy Officer

Wealden District Council

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01323 443186