Urban businesses could miss out due to lack of high speed broadband

It has recently been claimed that many of the urban small and medium sized businesses in Yorkshire could suffer as a result of lack of high speed internet access.

Recent concerns have been expressed over how small and medium sized businesses will fare in the Yorkshire area due to lack of high speed broadband access. There are concerns that some city based SMEs could even find it difficult to compete with rivals in rural areas because of problems accessing high speed broadband and Internet services.

The government has recently announced millions of pounds worth of funding for extension of high speed broadband in rural areas, which has been welcomed by the areas that will be benefitting from the improved services. However, there are now concerns that with so much focus on rural areas smaller businesses in urban areas could start to suffer and may find it difficult to compete with those in rural areas.

One industry official said: “However, BDUK has really been primarily focused on rural initiatives as the Government believes market forces will take care of urban areas. This is not proving to be the case, and a more detailed analysis of the market shows that there are more businesses in urban areas whose broadband needs are not being addressed. Typically these are SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) and the economic impact of not providing adequate digital connectivity to them is great. However the existing round of BDUK funding misses this point. ”

He added: “The investment required to provide next generation broadband services across the country is many billions of pounds. Investment has tended to go to those areas where there is intense competition and a concentration of large businesses. However, most employment in this country sits within SMEs which remain ill-served. Urban areas in need of regeneration are not receiving investment in telecoms infrastructure, hence we have a cycle that needs to be broken. As a result, businesses could suffer from the lack of investment in areas which are not deemed a priority. This is harming competitiveness and employment.”

Source – Yorkshire Post