South Down Sinn Féin Calls For Better Rural Broadband

SINN Féin Down District Councillor Willie Clarke MLA has said that broadband needs to be as accessible in rural areas as it is in urban areas.

Cllr Clarke said. “The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment needs to do more to make sure that rural communities have broadband access.

South Down Sinn Féin MLA Willie Clarke calls fro broadband improvements to rural areas. 

“I have tabled a question in the Assembly on dealing specifically with the deficit of broadband access for the rural community in South Down.

“In this day and age broadband should be accessible to everyone from students, businesses and farmers right across the North.  At present Internet providers are talking about the 4^th generation yet many rural areas have yet to receive even a basic signal.  This is not good enough and the Minister must outline what actions are to be taken to ensure that rural areas are brought up to speed.

“Not having this access immediately puts them at a disadvantage when carrying out their daily activities. Increasing aspects of school curriculum need to be done on line, farmers are expected to process grant applications on line and businesses conduct banking, marketing and outreach all on line.

“There needs to be continued engagement with rural communities to identify black spot areas specifically effected and investment should follow to remedy the problem. I acknowledge that DETI has done some work in this area but even should one rural community be denied broadband access then that is not good enough especially when DETI often cite 100% coverage throughout the North.

“Bringing everyone up to the same quality of service will not only benefit people on the ground in their daily lives but also send out a clear message to rural communities that the Executive is prepared to stand up for them.”

BBC Survey Shows Massive Support For Universal Broadband Access

Last summer, the BBC conducted a survey and the result showed that four out of five people across the world thought that that the right to access broadband was a fundamental human right.

And in July 2010, Finland was actually the first country to enshrine in law the right in their country for everyone to have access to Broadband with a line at a minimum of 1 Kbps. The UK has promised that by July 2012 everyone should have access to a supply of at least 2 Kbps, but the UK government did not make this a law as such. 

In Finland, the government took the view that the Internet was not just for entertainment but was an important driver in the economy and helped improve the quality of life for all.