1% of the UK forced to live without broadband

Many of us have learned to take our broadband connections for granted, but there are still those that simply cannot get connected to broadband

Anyone that has always lived in an area where broadband is easily accessible probably takes their broadband connection – or at least the knowledge that broadband is available – for granted. However, whilst BT is excitedly proposing plans to launch superfast broadband to millions of homes, there are still some homes in which people cannot see the points of getting excited because they will never get to enjoy superfast broadband anyway.

One researcher was recently contacted by a man who worked from home yet had no access to broadband due to the proximity of his home to the local telephone exchange. This means that he has to pay a small fortune each month in order to get 512Kbps satellite connection in order to work from home, making him one of the estimated 1% of people that cannot get broadband at all.

The man contacted the researcher, explaining: “There is a significant number of people like me who live and run businesses in rural communities that can still not receive broadband at all. We are a small minority of households/business for sure, but we are living in digital poverty whilst those who live in or near cities have their greed for speed met ultimately at our expense.”

The researcher then contacted the communications regulator Ofcom about the issue for an explanation, and was told by Ofcom offiicials: “The exact scale of the problem is difficult to quantify.” This was swiftly followed by the news that over 99% of the UK is connected to a broadband enabled exchange.

It seems that the 1% of the population that fall into the group that cannot get access to broadband have seen the BT investment as nothing more than a waste of money, as they will not benefit, but for millions of other homes it could mean a step into the world of advanced broadband technology.