Research by Northumbria University
academics has been cited by a Parliamentary Committee investigating poor
broadband in rural areas and the challenges of tackling the digital divide.
In its report “An Update on Rural
Connectivity”, the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Committee referred to research articles by Professor Jason Whalley and lecturer
Paolo Gerli from Northumbria’s Newcastle Business School.
Digital connectivity is widely regarded as
an essential utility, but poor broadband in rural areas risks causing harm to
the rural economy and leaving communities behind. The Parliamentary Committee
believes that while broadband and mobile coverage has improved significantly
since 2015, the divide between urban and rural areas continues to marginalise
communities and businesses especially in hard to reach areas with weak or no
connectivity. It also states a lack of confidence that the Government has fully
grasped the extent of the problem, the scale of the challenge, or the wider
cost of poor connectivity for rural communities and the rural economy.
The
Parliamentary Committee’s latest report cites Professor Whalley and Paolo Gerli’s
research on Broadband Delivery UK, which has recently been published in the International Journal of PublicAdministration. Professor Whalley says this research found a lack of transparency in the
management of public subsidies supporting the diffusion of superfast broadband
in the UK.
He
added: “The Committee concluded that there should be greater transparency on
how the Government estimates costs for its broadband programme and allocates
funding across the UK. It also shared our concerns on the Universal Service Obligation,
whose target speed of 10 Mbps is way below the national average - as argued in
our responses to the Ofcom and the EFRA committee consultations.
In line with our findings, the House of Commons report concludes that the Government
should commit to an immediate review of the USO specification as soon as
possible”.
Northumbria’s contribution to the
consultation and the on-going research that underpins it, reflects a wider body
of research and expertise that has been presented at various international
conferences including TPRC and ITSEurope, published in journals and cited in the press (Wired and ISP
Review). The on-going work of Paolo Gerli and Professor Jason Whalley examines
the impact of technological change on telecommunications markets in terms of
the availability and quality of networks, who provides these networks and the
innovative approaches that some communities have adopted and their adoption by
individuals and businesses particularly in rural areas.
