Access to a fast efficient broadband service is “absolutely vital” to the future of Herefordshire – that was the message from Communications minister Ed Vaizey during his visit to the county last week.
Mr Vaizey was guest speaker at a special Broadband Summit at the Three Counties Hotel in Hereford,organised by local MP Jesse Norman.
The summit was an opportunity for business leaders, councillors, and members of the public hear about the state of broadband services in Herefordshire.
Also present were several senior executives from BT, a number of specialist rural broadband providers as well as bosses from leading county businesses.
Those present at the meeting heard about the possibility of funding from DEFRA as well as the pioneering project by local firm allpay to bring wireless broadband to rural areas by using church steeples.
Despite improvements in infrastructure, many areas are unable to access broadband at all, although Herefordshire Council wants to tackle this by embracing fibre optic technology.
Infinity, BT’s new super-fast fibre optic network. will allow users to access download speeds of up to 40Mb and has plans to connect two thirds of the UK by 2015.
The company is investing £2.5billion into the project and claims to be running at an average connection rate of 100,000 premises a week. However, the government has delayed a target to bring the national minimum connection speed of 2 megabits per second (mbps) from 2012 to 2015.
Speaking to the Journal, Mr Vaizey said this was a realistic target.
He said: “We felt when we came into government that the money that the last government set aside wasn’t enough to reach a target of 2012. Because we want to deliver superfast broadband to as many homes as possible we didn’t want to put in a second-class solution to meet an artificial target.”
Describing his visit as “incredibly useful”, the minister said that improved broadband services were crucial to the future of the county.
He added: “I think Herefordshire is fantastic county, it’s full of small businesses and people who want to have access huge markets like local farmers but also creative businesses. I think broadband is absolutely vital to the future of this county.”
The minister that central government’s role was to work with local authorities to establish a strong broadband infrastructure.
He added: “We want to be an enabler, we want to set out a clear road map so local government knows what has to be done and can work with us to ensure that broadband is rolled out in this county and there’ll be small sums of money available to support specific initiatives.”
“Broadly speaking it’s more of an infrastructure problem than a technology problem, the main cost of broadband is getting it set up infrastructure-wise so that’s where the main cost lies.”
MP Jesse Norman said that an efficient broadband service was vital to the economic growth and social cohesion of the county.
He said: “The summit was a huge success, and I am grateful to all those who took part.
“It is clear that as a county we are not yet on the map with British Telecom for the next generation broadband we need. That’s a key priority.
“But what is also clear is that all the elements we need are there to make broadband happen.
“The council needs to review the extent of its existing spend, including through the PCT and the local authority, to see if we can use that spending power better.
“The minister confirmed that we should be eligible for some DEFRA funding aimed at particularly rural areas. There are rural fixed line and wireless broadband specialists who can work with particular communities to fill the gaps. We just now need to get on with it.”