What is the digital divide?
The term digital divide has been around for many years and was initially used to describe those within society that lacked the basic digital skills required for everyday life. More recently, it is being used to describe the inequality within the population in relation to its access to superfast and ultrafast broadband connections. This is becoming progressively more evident by the increasing number of everyday tasks that have moved online and as this happens, we need to ask, is enough being done to tackle the digital divide?
Today an estimated 1.3 million UK premises lack access to superfast broadband connections, whilst only 60% of premises in the UK have access to ultrafast gigabit-broadband. Superfast broadband offers an average speed of 30Mbps or more while ultrafast provides average speeds of 300Mbps and above. Superfast broadband is typically supported by Fibre To The Cabinet (FTTC) while ultrafast is supported by advanced connections that utilise Fibre To The Property (FTTP).
One of the UKs biggest broadband providers which oversees the UKs broadband infrastructure along with Openreach has openly admitted that it is highly unlikely that all properties in the UK will achieve access to FTTC or FTTP. In many cases it has been deemed as not financially viable to lay cables and install enhanced infrastructure to areas which may only serve what is perceived as just a handful of customers.
So where does this leave the 16 per cent of the population unable to access superfast and ultrafast fibre broadband connections? Mobile telecommunications operators have been working at a pace to deploy masts all over the UK so to improve and enhance the 4G broadband coverage. Mobile masts can more easily be deployed to remote locations to cover whole communities or to increase capacity in more densely populated areas. 4G mobile broadband offers the closest experience to FTTC with real world speeds of up to 40-50Mbps and unlimited data subscriptions.
Many metropolitan areas also benefit from the availability of 5G services that offer speeds averaging in the UK between 100 - 200 Mbps. The service coverage footprint is currently growing from 10% of the UK which currently equates to circa one hundred and thirty towns and cities.
Performance with cellular services will vary with the most common contributing variables being signal level, population density and the quality of the backhaul used to connect the mast to the internet. Those subscribers in areas where the signal needs improvement, or those with sporadic performance due to demand, may need to seek out a more reliable solution.
We have discussed the terrestrial services supplied by cable and cellular networks, but what can be done to bridge the digital divide for those in truly remote areas that have access to little or no local telecoms infrastructure? There are of course non-terrestrial services and with complete coverage of the UK, satellite broadband can offer a reliable communication link with subscription plans that meet the specifications of a superfast connection.
There are a few things to consider when utilising satellite broadband; a clear line of sight is required to the satellite in orbit, the standard service plans will have data usage allowances and satellite connectivity has a default latency of between 650-800ms. During pre-sales the Freedomsat sales team will perform checks to ensure that a suitable location is available at your property to ensure a clear line of sight is possible. The Freedomsat sales team will also make you aware of satellite latency and what impact this may have on your experience with certain applications.
In reference to usage allowances, customers will need to consider which applications they use and what data is necessary. Due to the increased costs of supply in comparison to terrestrial services, satellite bandwidth has a premium. There are subscription plans ranging from as little as £25 a month and this will scale based upon a customer’s typical monthly data usage needs. When comparing, it should be remembered that satellite-based broadband is not designed to compete with a terrestrial service, but for those considered unreachable by fibre and cellular, satellite broadband is a true lifeline connecting remote and rural communities to the internet.
The digital divide is shrinking but the governments’ pledge to roll out Gigabit broadband nationwide by 2025 has been drastically ramped down to 85% of the UK by 2025, but even that seems unlikely in the wake of COVID-19 and the current cost of living crisis. Thankfully there are a raft of technological solutions already available to provide reliable and robust superfast broadband coverage to those who will not be covered by the government’s plans.