Digital divide wider than ever

Affordable broadband access for most people, it seems, is finally starting to become a reality in the UK as more exchanges are opened up by BT. But the government's bold aims to bridge the digital divide on both a geographical and social level could still be further away than ever.

Even broadband campaigners admit that BT has made a "reasonably good job" in recent months of increasing the number of local exchanges that have high-speed connections and lowering prices. One campaign group, Broadband4Britain has even finally got its own Chepstow headquarters kitted out with fat pipes.

But the onus is now falling squarely back onto the government to, quite literally, go that last mile. Affordable high-speed internet access remains a distant dream for most residents and businesses in rural Britain. Telcos can't be expected to bear all the costs of supplying access in areas where there is not enough critical mass to make it economically viable and even MPs have called on the government to provide subsidies.

This looks like being ignored by the Labour government as it gears up for a tough re-election campaign and certainly middle-England countryside friendly voters are not likely to be its priority target audience when it comes to the next raft of voter-friendly policies. Broadband4Britain is set to highlight these issues at a major event next week. Watch this space for news on that.

On a social level the government is addressing the digital divide by making efforts to ensure that people who would not typically have internet access are given that chance – with free access and education schemes like the one launched by UK Online earlier this year. This week the government also issued guidelines to help public sector web managers make sure their websites comply with disability laws so that blind and deaf people can get the same surfing experience as everyone else.

Whilst that is to be applauded, experts are already warning that there is no money to support the changes that will need to be made as the government pushes on to get services online by 2005.

Don't forget we've come a long way but let's not throw that progress away with short-term policies and "political expediency", as Broadband4Britain put it.