The Rural Community Council For Kent and Medway
Broadband
Broadband is not just about technology – it is really about people connecting with each other. However broadband speeds in much of Kent are not good – and this has an impact on growing our economy, keeping in touch with people and even how we can access health and social services.
In time this page will contain information on things that you can do to help improve broadband speeds, and thus various social, economic and environmental activities in your community. This will include:
- Becoming a ‘Broadband Champion’
- Information on grants available to improve broadband speeds
- Toolkits and guides on how to make a case for improved broadband speeds
- Events we run to bring together those communities that have managed to improve broadband speeds, or make creative use of superfast broadband, with those experiencing less of a service
Kent Broadband Champions
Could you be the person in your community to find the demand for faster broadband where you live or work? We will be running some briefing sessions in the near future, tied in part to requirements of various new funding schemes for broadband (see Funding section below), and would be delighted to hear from you if so!
Funding
In November 2011 Defra announced the launch of the
Rural Community Broadband Fund (www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/03/10/uplands/#digitalbritain) The fund will have at least two bidding rounds and comprises an initial amount of around £20 million. The fund comes from European Commission and UK Government sources and forms part of the Rural Development Programme for England. Match funding is required for any bid to this fund.Once application forms become available we will post information on this page.
Guidance
The Independent Networks Cooperative Association (www.inca.coop), or INCA, has a range of materials, including a downloadable guide “Beyond Broadband” and a collection of case studies to help get you thinking about what can be done.
Campaigns
There are a number of campaigns underway to help people get on-line – even where broadband speeds are slow. Many of these seek people with expertise to give a small amount of time to help people that are not used to using new technology to become comfortable with it. These campaigns include:
Kent County Council has announced its ambition to see 90% of homes and businesses with superfast broadband by 2015, with the remainder of the county achieving speeds of at least 2Mbps. To help with this it is asking people to register their / your demand for faster broadband under a Vote for Better Broadband campaign. For further information, and to register your demand, please visit www.kent.gov.uk/broadband
BBC First Click (www.bbc.co.uk/firstclick) This looks to encourage people who do not use the internet to understand and enjoy its benefits
Race Online 2012
This aims to reduce the number of people not on-line from a current estimated 8.4 million, and links to the Go On campaign (see below)
Go On (www.go-on.co.uk) This encourages people with some internet use experience to “give an hour” to help those that do not.
