The IT Pro Podcast: The crisis in rural connectivity
Rural businesses are still being left behind and face shutdowns of 3G and copper without anything to fall back on
The conversation around UK connectivity is often dominated by the rollout of 5G, or the race for widespread gigabit broadband.
But many rural communities and businesses struggle with a lack of even basic connectivity such as reliable cellular service. This has severe consequences for rural businesses, holding back their growth while accelerating brain drain as younger people gravitate towards urban areas for education and employment.
Some groups have taken measures into their own hands to ensure they receive the connectivity they need. In this episode, Jane and Rory speak to Dave Happy, collaboration lead at 5GRuralDorset, to discuss the connection difficulties facing rural businesses and what is being done to help.
Highlights
“I cannot understand after 37 years why we still even have a digital divide, let alone on a scale which with the withdrawal of 2G, 3G, and copper switch off is actually going to be exacerbated not improved.”
“The loss to the rural economy of not having this fibre in place is infinitely greater and far more personal than people really understand.”
"I've heard dates of 3G switch off taking place within 24 months. Now, it might well be that government can set all the targets in the world, and regulators can set targets, wonderful things targets. And sometimes they even get hit. I'm not saying they won't be, I'm not saying they will be, I'm simply saying if 3G is going to get switched off in two years and they can switch off 2G more quickly then they will."
Read the full transcript here.
Footnotes
- Cloud growth experiencing ‘slowdown’ amid rising economic disruption
- Cisco gets ahead of the herd with ‘connected cow’ app
- UK's first 6G research facility to open at the University of Sheffield
- Satellite broadband could turbocharge rural business connectivity
- Rural businesses face "digital exclusion" due to underinvestment in connectivity
- MediaTek announces new 5G mmWave chipset and Wi-Fi 7 platforms
- What is 5G and how far are we from rollout?
- Preparing for the 3G sunset: What your business should expect
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