Rural broadband push gathers pace

NEWS A group of rural broadband campaigners are gearing up to organise a major conference to debate the way forward in fighting the broadband divide. The Access For Broadband Campaign (ABC) will hold the Rural and Regional Broadband Conference in London on 9 July. It is an opportunity, according to ABC, for the whole of the broadband sector to meet and discuss possible ways of closing this gap. John Wilson, one of ABC's founder members, said: "The conference is a platform for community groups, government representatives, regulators and industry figures to meet and debate, and take part in in-depth workshops." Affordable broadband is still unavailable to around 30 per cent of the UK population. ABC said it is keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in participating in or sponsoring the event, or other parts of its work. ABC's website should go live early next week - in the meantime, Wilson's own website contains details of how other countries have dealt with rural broadband issues. The organisation will also be represented at The Wireless LAN Event, which takes place on 22 to 23 May, 2003, at Olympia, London.