by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Companies say that they do not need expensive high-speed trains but rather would see investment in super-fast broadband ‘media highways’.
While those findings – and hence maybe they should not then be surprising – come from a survey conducted by a major broadband provider, Virgin Media Business, nevertheless many of those bosses questioned found that speedier broadband could significantly improve their bottom line.
This result, with 36% of those questioned, was higher than those who believe improved road (24 per cent) or rail (30) infrastructure would bring commercial benefits.
Virgin Media’s Andrew Beckhaus said: “Global figureheads from prime ministers to leading business owners have identified better communications infrastructure, such as fibre-optic networks, as the linchpin for improving the global economy.
“We saw a general election packed with policies on how each political party would improve the nation’s communications infrastructure.
“This survey highlights that the issue is still at the forefront of the boardroom agenda and the very real need for businesses to step away from legacy infrastructure towards a faster future.”
I have said many times before that we do not need the high-speed rail connections that the government, the previous Labour one was, and the current Con-Lib coalition one seems to be, advocating.
High-speed rail will cost a great deal more than any super-fast broadband infrastructure across the country, including the rural areas. At least, that would benefit the rural areas, unlike the high-speed rail link.
In addition to that many people could work from home if they had fast broadband connections and thus would not need, at least not every day, commute into London or other large towns, cities and conurbations.
© 2010
