How Can Government Use Digital Technologies to Reduce the Exclusion in Rural Communities in the UK - Essay Example

Insert your name here Subject: Communications Title: How can Government use digital technologies to reduce economic, political, social and cultural exclusion in rural communities in the UK? 3rd June 2010 The United Kingdom government has been in the fore front in making sure that there is accessibility to information throughout the country this includes the rural areas by the formation of regional development authorities who helps and oversee that there is internet connection throughout the rural areas this is done in several ways namely offering the services as a package with other services or through community based initiatives. This was made possible by the provision of grants to support the installation of broadband services in the rural areas. In the rural areas there has been formation of several development authorities such as SEEDA, OFCOM and DEFRA among others. However the government need to deal with the many red tapes which slow the implementation of such projects to take root. There has also been several attempts by the government to curtail misuse of the internet through crack downs of jammers, introduction of new bills which are supposed to be implemented these includes the introduction of the European Union bill which is geared to stop what is termed as broadband shock bills. The introduction of the European bill to stop broadband shock was introduced since most business men or tourist ran a huge amount of bills anytime they were travelling abroad due to the fact that they used their roaming devices to check on the internet. It has a set amount of money capacity which someone is allowed to use unless the person request for addition. According to Neelie Kroes, EU commission vice president for digital Agenda: “There will be no more bill shocks for tourists or business travellers surfing the internet with smart phones or laptops while in another EU country. The EU is also cutting the cost of roaming calls for travellers. I am determined to make the EU's telecoms markets more competitive.” With the introduction of this bill you have the option of increasing your cap or even reducing It further by contacting your mobile provider directly. This can be done to the amount you need or require to use when you are abroad. This capacity bill is not only directed at broadband providers only but also mobile phone providers who have also been forced to lower their roaming cost of making and receiving calls around Europe. However the only limitation to this is that it applies only when you are in the European countries and not when you are travelling abroad since as Michel Philip one of the broadband service provider said, “While the new rules should eliminate bill shocks, they do only apply while you're roaming in Europe - and using your mobile broadband connection to get online abroad is still costly. And “If you're determined to use your mobile broadband abroad, it might be more economical to buy one of the roaming bundles offered by most providers,” he advised. There are two types of internet usage namely asymmetry and symmetry. Asymmetry is the use of internet by private consumers while symmetry is the use of internet by business community. The use of broadband depends on the end user for instance if the person wants dedicated broadband they have to pay much more than for instance someone who share the same bandwidth with several people. For instance the fewer the people using a bandwidth the more they pay compared to the higher the people use the same bandwidth. The government through the formation of the development authorities have been able to initiate demand of internet to the end consumers by introduction of the community broadband by supplying through service extension this means BT providing broadband on top of existing POTS, network provision and supply and delivery of equipment. According to the Regional Development agencies website which stated that “There are many success stories from individual Regional Development Agencies or collaborations between agencies which have made a demonstrable difference to regional economies.  Use the search box on the right to find success stories for the following themes.  The success stories from several rural development stories have been noted all throughout with the aim of broad band delivery UK being that it endeavours to set up broadband which will be accessible to all people in the rural area. According to Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport who launched the Government’s Broadband Strategy on 6th December 2010 which expands on his vision for Britain to have the best superfast broadband network in Europe by 2015. He reiterated that “The Government is committed to ensuring the rapid roll-out of superfast broadband across the country and would like remote areas to benefit from this at the same time as more populated areas. The Strategy outlines how Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) will use  the £530m  available in this Spending Review period to support broadband and stimulate further private sector investment.  It sets out the goal of delivering a fibre point in every community in the UK by the end of this parliament, bringing superfast broadband within reach of communities urban and rural, and commits to ensuring that homes and businesses right across the UK are able to access a decent level of connectivity, even in the most remote areas. Jeremy Hunt also announced his proposal to use £50m of the £530m allocated in the Spending Review to support a further wave of rural projects in addition to the projects already announced in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Cumbria, Herefordshire and North Yorkshire. DEFRA stated that it has received funding from the government of up to twenty six million pounds which are supposed to support the hill farmers and help the rural community be connected to the broadband internet. Caroline Spelman said: “England’s uplands communities face difficult challenges, as do other remote parts of rural England, yet these are places with a remarkable range of human and natural assets and they can have a bright future. I am determined that these areas will not be overlooked and that is why I will champion their interests’ right from the centre of Government. “Making a living as a hill farmer can be very difficult without the payments which reward the valuable environmental contribution they make, and unless farmers get help to innovate and diversify.  The range of measures announced today will help hill farmers become more competitive and take advantage of new opportunities to grow their businesses. They will also help rural communities to thrive.”  DEFRA expects to set up a rural community broadband fund which is expected to help end the digital divide between the urban and rural communities. The package of measures which were put in place and followed government reviews of policies affecting England’s upland was supposed to guarantee that 100% of rural area people who are eligible are able to access the internet and it will help growth and development in the region.it was also supposed to reduce the red tapes which are usually in place and prevents the people from getting full access to the internet.  the community broad band supply fund is supposed to enable the community make contracts with the suppliers and manage their own broadband through the formation of committees who will oversee the distribution of the broadband locally. The commeitee or management are supposed to manage both the supplier and the end user in this case the consumer. It is supposed to enter into contract with both the user and the supplier. Be responsible and oversee the running and operation of the wireless telecom, backhaul and internet service provider. It has also the provision of becoming a limited company. The success of this community based project in England has been immense that several villages have been able to access internet in their own homes and business this is evident in Cambridgeshire where Several villages in Cambridgeshire are working together to establish their own broadband connectivity because they will not be served by telecoms providers.The Cambridge Ring North East (Carnet) project was started by local residents in 1998 when they realised there were no prospect of either BT or cable companies providing broadband in the foreseeable future ‘the Telco wouldn't serve us so we decided to do it ourselves,' said Laurie van Someren, one of Carnet's founders. The initial project focused on the village of Bottisham, six miles from Cambridge. With infrastructure in place and the first users online in Bottisham, nearby Lode was connected. A third local village will go live this week and a fourth is planned within the next three months. Supplier Invisible Networks is working with Carnet, a not-for-profit organisation, and is bearing the capital cost of renting a leased line from Cambridge to the Bottisham telephone exchange and providing wireless antennae and receivers to connect local homes and businesses. However this is not all a rosy picture since there are red tapes which the government has to remove for this project to be able to pull through. Some communities coalition like for example the coalition in Eden Valley Cumbria “Vanguard wants the government to break the barriers and remove the stifling regulation which are hindrance to the much needed change in the area. This has put some civil servants on spot. The Vanguard community of Eden valley have requested the government to install the rural broad band which will see more than half a million resident benefit from the use of internet among other things. This was supported by decentralization minister Greg Clark who said that "It's local people who have the energy and the best ideas that can transform communities, not us here in Whitehall. But for too long the stranglehold of bureaucracy has stopped citizens and communities from getting on and taking control. We need to stand national government on its head. We are going to work with communities not by telling them what to do from London but by listening and supporting where we need to.” He also reiterated that "It's great to see these exciting ideas emerging in the vanguard areas that will help us to understand and resolve the bureaucratic hurdles that get in the way of locally driven social action, essential to building the Big Society. The availability of internet to local residence will enable several issues such as linking members of all clubs and societies in the village. Providing notice board for any events which include sales and wants, making booking at events places, website space, ordering from local shops, appointments or even changing newspaper deliveries among other things which can be done from the internet. There are both negative and positive issues concerned with broad band with the positive being Choice of services; Innovative, ‘Experience Technologies Consumer-led, Community-based solutions attractive, and perhaps the only solution, RDA money available for rollout, Subsidies for new services; the negative issues are: Bureaucracy & red tape, Environmental issues, Time, Accurately gauging demand, Promoting the service, Individual or ‘community, Reliance on ‘new’ technologies & outside organisations, Cost/benefit analysis needed. In conclusion internet is important to promote people day to day activity since it can make work easier and even promote economy in the rural areas. Although the UK government has done a lot to pursue this end there is still a lot that need to be done to enable all the houses in the rural area being connected. References Community and local government, Big Society vanguard puts Whitehall on the spot to remove bureaucratic barrier, retrieved on 6th May from http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsstories/communities/1764181 Regional development Agencies , Success stories retrieved on 6th may from http://www.englandsrdas.com/case-studies SEEDA, Policies and strategies retrieved on 6th \may from http://www.seeda.co.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-strategy Garnet Roach, New EU rules to stop mobile broadband bill shocks, Broadband choice, 2010 Piotrowski, MC, Becoming an interior designer: A guide to careers in design, John Wiley and sons, 2008. Gibbs, J. Interior design, Laurence King publishing, 2005. Eric W K T, Can guanxi is a Source of Sustained Competitive Advantage for Doing Business in China? 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