UK Government sees Satellite Broadband essential for rural communities

David Willetts (Minister of State for Universities and Science & conservative MP for Havant), in a recent report has said that Satellite broadband will become an “essential means” to deliver faster internet access into rural communities.

The response came after being questioned by Harriett Baldwin (Conservative MP for West Worcestershire) in parliament, who wanted to know what role satellite broadband solutions could play in delivering internet access into rural areas within her constituency.

David Willetts responded:

“We see satellite broadband as an essential means to deliver faster internet access for rural communities, businesses and individuals. Everywhere in Britain can therefore access broadband via satellite. This is an issue we regularly discuss with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
We got an excellent outcome from the European Space Agency ministerial last month. Britain is now the leader of the ARTES 2 programme for the development of the next generation 
telecommunications platform. It is great to see British businesses taking a lead here, and this will increase broadband speeds and reduce costs for UK users in rural and remote areas, making satellite broadband even more accessible.”

This is seen as great interest as previous government reviews and reports have seen a mixed reception on the topic of satellite connectivity, although it does have plenty of viable applications which can be utilised in rural areas such as SCADA for remote monitoring of sites.

The press surrounding satellite broadband has always been shaded by users’ bad experiences, and the affordability. But it cannot be denied it’s a system that works very well in rural areas and well as a back-up solution for the alternative cabled broadband. In the short term satellite broadband is a solution that is working, with 100% coverage* of the UK.  Fibre is a solution for the future, but when exactly it is installed it cannot be seen.

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