BT Scotland director Bob Downes is due to meet Wallace next month in a bid to work out how people in rural parts of Scotland can embrace the digital revolution. Downes will tell the minister that the Executive needs to work harder to avoid significant chunks of the country losing out because of the challenging geography. Downes will also stress that although BT wants to play its part in achieving a planned 90% population digital take-up by 2005, the telecommunications firm cannot be 'expected to go around subsidising everything'.
Last month Professor Jim Norton, the former director of the government's e-commerce team, called on it to regulate less and increase its commitment towards creating a critical mass market that would encourage operators to invest properly in rural areas.
Echoing that sentiment, Downes said: 'Regulation is fine when it comes to cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow but does not work well rurally. We must guard against a two-speed digital economy in Scotland.'
He claimed that the answer lies in taking a more holistic approach towards local digital initiatives, especially when it comes to private-and-public partnership ventures to achieve a comprehensive broadband coverage throughout Scotland.
'The split between broadband take-up is nine consumers to one business. So, to achieve real e-government, digital development is every bit as relevant to education, health and local government, as it is to enterprise.'
Downes revealed that getting 63% of Scots broadband-enabled would involve 135 exchanges, with a further 300 needed to hit the magic 90% mark. However, to connect the remaining 10% required more than 760 exchanges in total -- a large number of them small and in rural areas. According to BT, it can cost £1 million to modify a single exchange to accommodate broadband.
Last month, Westminster announced that two million UK residents have signed up to broadband, with 35,000 new customers each week.
But despite the Executive last December committing £24m towards the roll-out of broadband, just 4.1% of the population has the service. The UK as a whole fares little better, with an average take-up of 5.2%. This contrasts with the US which sits at 25%, while South Korea, the global leader, boasts 50%.
Quelle: sunday herald
