Professional AdviceYou are here : News and Press » News Archive » Broadband » Business
|
Rural Broadband conference sees CLA and BT practise what they preach Representatives of BT and the CLA met on Thursday (20 May) to discuss how both organisations could continue their work together to bring the benefits of broadband to the rural north west.
Appropriately, the meeting took place via audioconference, meaning that all delegates could participate without leaving their desks, a clear demonstration of the benefits that communications technology can bring to rural communities. The CLA sees the availability of affordable broadband in rural areas as a priority if rural businesses are to be able to successfully compete with their urban counterparts and rural communities enjoy the same benefits as their urban neighbours . The CLA also welcomed the recent progress by BT in announcing a programme for enabling exchanges serving 99.6 per cent of UK homes and businesses by summer 2005, but warned that efforts must continue to bring broadband to the final few, who will be unable to benefit from the massive programme currently underway. BT stressed that much investment was currently being put in to trials hoping to extend the reach of broadband to 10Km from an exchange, which if successful would bring ADSL broadband to all but a very few. Both organisations agreed to combine their strengths to try and find a cost-effective solution to provide a broadband service to the remaining, extremely remote rural areas. CLA's Regional Director Douglas Chalmers said: "Great progress is being made on enabling exchanges, and whilst the trigger levels are being superseded by a planned rollout programme which will be announced by BT at the end of June, it is still important to register your interest with your ISP, or your local campaign group. This will help the whole industry plan more effectively". "As well as devising a solution for the 'final few', our aim now is to increase take-up. We have campaigned hard for availability, but unless people actually use it, the benefits to rural communities will not be realised. We will certainly do our part in helping to promote the real benefits that rural businesses and communities can gain from these exciting developments." The CLA says that further meetings with BT, real and virtual, are planned. 25 May 2004 |
Contact Douglas Chalmers
Douglas is from an Aberdeenshire farming family and trained as an animal nutritionist after graduating from the University of Aberdeen. He held technical and management positions in the agricultural supply industry for 20 years prior to joining the CLA in 2001 as North West Regional Director. He is a Governor of Myerscough College and a member of Cumbria Local Access Forum. He was previously Chairman of Cumbria Fells & Dales RDPE Local Action Group and Vice Chairman of the North West Rural Affairs Forum. Douglas and his wife own a small farm near Appleby-in-Westmorland keeping Herdwick sheep and free-range poultry, and where he has helped his wife to form Learning Fields, a Community Interest Company and care farming enterprise offering educational and environmental activities. He is also a member of Eden Time Bank. T: 01748 907070 F: 01748 907075 douglas.chalmers@cla.org.uk Media Contacts Ollie Wilson T: 020 7460 7936
T: 020 7460 7934
Join the CLA today
The CLA Game Fair 2012
More articles and documents [News Archive] [27 July 2011] Regional Economic Strategy Consultation: CLA Response [Consultation response archive] [6 April 2006] |
- Policy Topics
- Policy Topics
- Site sections
- Specially for members
© 2012 Country Land and Business Association Limited (CLA). All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, or stored in any retrieval system of any nature without prior written permission of the copyright holder except as expressly permitted by law.
Disclaimer
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action in reliance on or as a result of the material included in or omitted in this website can be or is accepted by the author(s), the CLA or its officers or trustees or employees or any other persons.
The Advisory Services are made available to members on the basis that members' rights to compensation and the liability (if any) of CLA and its officers and/or its staff advisers, are restricted in the following ways. In the event of any advice given by any CLA staff adviser being given negligently or otherwise being incorrect no liability whatsoever is accepted by the CLA or its officers or by its staff advisers concerned
(a) towards any person who is not the current CLA member to whom the advice was directly given,
(b) to any person in the respect of consequential loss or loss of profits, or
(c) to any person for any sum exceeding £50,000 in respect of any one enquiry (whether made or responded to orally or in writing and whether dealt with at one time or over a period of time).
Any person making use of the Advisory Services accepts such restrictions. Members should refer to appropriate professional advisers in private practice before taking any particular course of action potentially or actually involving any substantial amounts of money.
Please note that whilst the advisers are able to advise on a wide range of subjects relating to land ownership, they cannot act in place of a member's own solicitor, accountant, surveyor and tax specialist by, for example, drafting documents or corresponding on their behalf and may be precluded, by the rules of their own professions, from advising one CLA member against another CLA member in the case of conflict.
Solicitors Indemnity Fund . Solicitors in the CLA Legal Team are not covered by the Solicitors Indemnity Fund in relation to professional negligence in relation to any advice given by them.
Please note that from time to time telephone calls maybe recorded for training purposes.