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The digital divide cannot be solved by introducing superfast
broadband to the UK, claims one campaigner for universal access. ABI
Research last week published a report showing that the number of fixed
broadband subscribers globally totalled just under 449 million at the
end of the second quarter. This is a ten per cent increase on the same
period last year.
In Europe alone there were more than 126.4 million subscribers, with growth slowing down in saturated markets.
Khin Sandi Lynn, research associate at ABI Research, said: "In mature
European markets, operators are resorting to bundled packages including
TV, fixed telephone and broadband service in order to maintain average
revenue per user."
Commenting on the research, Graham Walker of the digital inclusion
campaign Race Online 2012 said that the UK was in a very good position,
but still had to address the digital divide.
Race Online was launched last month by dot com millionaire Martha
Lane Fox, in a bid to get the remaining ten million people in the UK who
have been online connected.
He said the British are "the most sophisticated internet users in
Europe, with 58 per cent of our users having bought or sold –
transacting – online".
However, plans to roll out faster broadband are simply not enough to get "millions" of unconnected households on line.
"The Manifesto for a Networked Nation has a vision of everyone in the
UK being able to use the web. By the end of this parliament our
ambition is that everyone of working-age should be online and that no
one should then retire offline", Mr Walker commented.
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