Consultations to help tackle poor broadband speeds in rural Dorset

Fed up with your slow broadband speed? Businesses in rural areas of Dorset are being urged to share their experiences and views on poor broadband.

The government is currently carrying out two consultations on the provision of broadband in rural areas and local businesses are being urged to give their views.

One consultation is on how to tackle poor broadband in the hardest to reach rural areas. The other is to see if changes are needed its policy to help households and businesses that have internet speeds of under 10mbps. That policy is called the Universal Service Obligation.

If your business is in a rural area in Dorset, or you have internet speeds of under 10mbps, then give your views now. Not all questions will apply to you, but you can answer the questions that will inform the government of your experiences.

Here are some key facts about poor connectivity and rural businesses:

• One-in-four agricultural businesses have below 10 Mbps, significantly higher than the UK average
• Rural SMEs are nearly five times less likely to receive a decent broadband connection from a fixed-line than a business located in an urban area. A survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) from 2019 showed 17.8% of ‘deep rural’ businesses had a broadband connection below 10 Mbps and 39% of small businesses ‘still consider their broadband speeds insufficient for their needs’.
• A report by broadband provider Gigaclear and the Countryside Alliance revealed 46% of businesses said if their internet connection never improved they would ‘struggle to keep up with the competition’ and around one-in-10 estimated it would lead to the closure of their business altogether.

Businesses have until 27 November to complete both consultations, which can be found here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/651d79d86a6955000d78b2fb/improving_broadband_for_very_hard_to_reach.pdf?utm_source=Dorset+Council+Residents&utm_campaign=5bb70ff3a2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_19_02_55_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bc36c80975-5bb70ff3a2-439141733

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/651d79f7e4e658000d59d96b/reviewing_the_broadband_universal_service_obligation.pdf?utm_source=Dorset+Council+Residents&utm_campaign=5bb70ff3a2-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_03_19_02_55_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bc36c80975-5bb70ff3a2-439141733