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April 19, 2005
SNP 'connectivity' policy and Fair Isle
As I have argued, providing universal broadband internet access is the cheapest, quickest and the most productive of all infrastructure projects.
Building roads, rail links, ports etc. are all major capital items. The internet is not. A new motorway or railway may offer a convenient service (possibly at environmental cost) but they will not change the way people think, study, work and do business.
So, I’m delighted to see that developing the internet is now SNP policy. This is the ‘Connectivity’ section of the SNP manifesto:
- The SNP wants Scotland to be amongst the best in the world in terms of IT infrastructure and national connectivity. That means complete access to broadband across Scotland and new initiatives to provide wireless access. In Estonia, for example, the debate is focused on making the whole country a wi-fi hotspot, to make wireless access to the internet available everywhere, let businesses become truly mobile, and open up the marketing opportunities of the world wide web to everyone. The SNP will support a wi-fi pilot initiative for the North East of Scotland. We will work with local authorities and the business community to create a series of wi-fi hotspots, starting in Aberdeen and then Dundee and Inverness, with the intention of creating a wireless area between these cities.
It’s not clear what technology is being referred to here. Perhaps wiMAX (802.16)? That would seem to be the best technology, but there are other possibilities.
The Guardian have an article on Fair Isle, Britain’s remotest island, which now has satellite broadband, with over half of the 70-odd islanders connected at home. This is inspiring: if Fair Isle can have it, then it should be possible anywhere!
www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1461205,00.htm
Posted by Simon Holledge at April 19, 2005 02:11 PM
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