13 June 2011
Northumberland National Park bids to close the digital divide
Northumberland National Park Authority has put forward a strong case for the improvement of rural broadband to the Parliamentary Committee looking into the roll-out of the next generation of mobile communications called 4G.
The business and communities who live in and around Northumberland National Park are probably the least well served for reliable broadband and mobile communications in England. Nearly 3,000 business and residential premises do not have access to the entry level of broadband enjoyed by the rest of the country. In addition there are huge gaps in mobile phone coverage in particular in the North Tyne valley north of Bellingham and the Coquet valley beyond Rothbury.
The results of regular residents’ surveys by Northumberland National Park Authority show that these are real problems for people running businesses, students trying to study, residents trying to access public services and also the large number of visitors whose positive experience of Northumberland increasingly relies on good mobile and internet access.
The National Park Authority has used these surveys to make the case to government to start to address these problems. This has been achieved by working with community and business groups such as the Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group and partnering with specialist contractors such as GreySky Consulting based in Scots Gap not far from Rothbury.
Stuart Evans from the National Park Authority stated:
‘This week the National Park Authority submitted evidence to the Parliamentary Committee looking into the roll-out of the next generation of mobile communications called 4G. We have asked the Committee’s Members of Parliament to make some changes to policy to best enable rural committee to be included in the benefits of the next generation of mobile communications, having missed out on the previous improvement in mobile communications.’
Details of this submission can be found here:
Final Submission CMS Committee - Inquiry into Spectrum
James Saunby from GreySky Consulting is confident that the pilot project to start improving rural broadband will be imminent, he said:
‘Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group were successful in gaining some £250,000 of EU funding to enable my company to contract with international suppliers to bring cheap and reliable broadband to 200 to 300 business and residential properties starting later this summer. We are still awaiting sign-off from government and the EU and once these are in place, both training and the new broadband infrastructure will be rolled-out as soon as practical’.
Details of this pilot project plan can be found at: www.greysky.co.uk/broadband/rural-broadband-project.htm
Alasdair Mitchell, a board member of the National Park Authority, is pleased with these initiatives, he commented:
‘Armed with good evidence from our residents’ surveys we are able to work with public sector partners like the County Council, private sector partners like GreySky Consulting and business / community groups like the Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group to both lobby government to amend its policies and also to attract European and other funds to address some of the real problems faced by rural communities and businesses.’
Further details of this project and other initiatives being developed by the Northumberland Uplands Local Action Group can be found at: www.nuleader.eu
Contacts:
Frances Whitehead, Communications Officer
Northumberland National Park Authority