Abstract
Superfast broadband services (Internet connections with downstream speeds of thirty megabits per second or more) are becoming a constant presence in marketing and government literature, which often detail the beneficial impacts on individuals’ social and leisure activities, employment options, and overall community well-being. This paper presents findings from a multi-phase project examining community-led superfast broadband initiatives in the United Kingdom. It includes methods of analysis of communities prior to obtaining superfast services as well as following a period of connectivity. The framework for assessing effects on rural community resilience of both the superfast broadband adoption, and the presence of community participation in its physical development, is outlined with early indications given. Finally, this paper postulates several transformative facets of digital connectivity and community-based broadband organisations.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | XXVth Congress of the European Society for Rural Sociology |
| Subtitle of host publication | Rural resilience and vulnerability: The rural as locus of solidarity and conflict in times of crisis |
| Place of Publication | Pisa (Italy) |
| Publisher | Laboratorio di studi rurali SISMONDI |
| Pages | 193-194 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 978 8 8908 9600 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Jul 2013 |
Keywords
- community
- broadband
- resilience