Opinion: Internet access: denied

Posted on 30 Nov 2009 at 17:05

Naked ambition

Then, one glorious midnight, I managed to connect via my mobile phone and received an email announcing that the ADSL line was alive. I decided to see if I could log on. Slightly drunk and crouching on bare floorboards in my pants (I include that image as a treat for all you loyal readers), I configured the basic USB modem and tried to connect. In seconds, I was reconnected. It was then that it really struck me: we take the internet so much for granted that it is impossible to imagine living without it. Yet some people don't have access, for one reason or another. They are enormously disadvantaged, existing beyond what some call the digital divide. This is clearly a significant issue - but I was too naked, elated and tired to pay it much attention.

Now clothed, connected and relatively sober, one can reflect more clearly. The internet is not just about Facebook, YouTube and ill-advised forays into porn. It provides essential access to local services, and may one day be the standard vehicle for voting. Certainly, it's the best source of information for those who have moved house. It ought to come as a basic service, like water.

Throughout 2009 there was talk of disconnecting copyright-infringing users in a 'three strikes and you're out' ruling. It's a daft idea akin to cutting off the electricity supplies of those who commit petty crimes. Maybe, instead, pirates should be forced to move into rural areas to take their chances with over-inflated connection costs, unreliable mobile connections and a paucity of good Chinese takeaways.

Author: Simon Edwards

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User comments

You say, "I must buy a slow and expensive ADSL service, in contrast to the fast, cheap services to which anyone who lives even slightly near a town can subscribe."

Not caught up with the latest news on broadband not-spots then. Or perhaps just still in London-think mode.

We had to give up buying one property because the broadband was inadequate. The quoted speed was 0.5 Mbps - and one could presume the usual ratio between quoted and actual speeds. Certainly no good for streaming iPlayer TV.

And where was this isolated spot? Less than 5 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne, which I think counts as "slightly near a town." Date for upgrade of exchange - not given. Likelihood that update would improve matters - small. Mobile broadband, "sorry not available at that address." After upgrade of mobile broadband? "Internet connection might be available out of doors."

Digital Britain? Can safely be left to the market. HA!

By Philippa on 8 Feb 2010