The study set out to establish the current state of broadband content and applications in the UK, what the barriers to further development are, whether they are likely to be resolved by the market and whether there is a role for Government.

The report found that the most important factor in driving broadband take-up is price. As prices fall closer to that of unmetered narrowband, take-up is increasing. However, this surge in take-up will level off and the second wave of broadband adoption will rely upon the arrival of compelling content.

The report suggests five projects for Government consideration:

SME Government Procurement Portal

A portal aimed specifically at small businesses, to enable them to offer products and services to central and local Government using broadband connectivity.

Broadband Tools for a Creative Industries Cluster

A pilot network to bring together an appropriate set of commercially available tools to be shared between members of an industry cluster using broadband connectivity. This would significantly reduce the cost of such resources for member companies.

Broadband Public Service Delivery Pilot

A pilot broadband delivery channel for local public services in one area. Focus on transactional services rather than information based services. Public access points in key areas such as shopping centres, football grounds and railway stations.

Broadband Tourism Portal

A portal that provides a platform and route to market for broadband tourism content such as video/sound clips and interactive virtual visitor centres. This will include both new and existing content and build upon the work of Culture Online. The portal would also drive up connectivity in the tourism industry.

The Broadband Channel - 'A Channel 4 for the broadband age'

An independent organisation to pull together supply and demand for broadband content and applications. This organisation would commission work from the UK content development sector and work with distributors such as ISPs, portals, mobile platforms and TV companies.

Andy Anson, one of the report's authors, identified a number of issues for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) regarding broadband take-up.

He said: "We found during the study that broadband penetration among SMEs had been relatively low and furthermore, the SME sector had not really been sold on the benefits of broadband from a transactional, communication and information sharing perspective.

"There are, however, some good examples of how access can drive a sector forward. In the North East, Shell Offshore Engineering is at the centre of a transaction based hub which links them to their SME supplier base, likewise in Detroit, USA around the Car Industry. It therefore became an objective of our study to find a potential pilot project which explored the benefits of broadband connectivity within the SME sector. After considering various options we concluded that a Government Procurement Portal aimed at small businesses, to enable them to offer products and services to central and local Government using broadband connectivity, made sense. In the non-governmental area we focused on Broadband Tools for the Creative Industries - which would aim to reduce the cost of such resources for member companies and increase operational effectiveness."

--
Richard Powell, © Shout99.com 2002