The Chief Executive of ruralnet|uk, the rural regeneration charity, welcomed the British Telecom (BT) announcement on the extended reach of the basic ADSL service (18 August, ref NR075) but advised against complacency.
Simon Berry said,
"Already many businesses regard broadband as an essential utility, like water or electricity. The big difference between broadband and the other utilities is that broadband technology is improving all the time. This means that what is regarded as broadband today will not support the services of tomorrow being developed for delivery over broadband.
"The BT announcement of the increased reach of ADSL is very welcome, but ruralnet|uk has an ongoing duty to do all it can to ensure the relative disadvantage, suffered by rural businesses and the communities they support, is continually reduced."
The broadband supplement at the ruralnet|2004 conference will bring together the key broadband players, including BT, with practitioners and visionaries to provide delegates with an informed statement on the current status of rural broadband and the prospects for the future.
As a founder partner of the Community Broadband Network, ruralnet|uk continues to provide online and face-to-face mentor support for those taking a social enterprise approach to the provision of broadband to their community.
Notes to editors
1 ruralnet|uk is a rural regeneration charity (1089238)
2 Details of ruralnet|uk's activities can be found at www.ruralnetuk.org
3 Details of ruralnet|uk's annual conference, including the broadband supplement can be found at www.ruralnetuk.org/conference
4 ruralnet|uk's broadband strategy is available at www.ruralnetuk.org/info/broadband.htm
5 Free support is available to Community Broadband initiatives at www.broadband-uk.coop
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