A whole new vista of opportunities and threats are opening up for the North East economy and society on the heels of recent advances in broadband technologies. Increases in bandwidths are enabling the transfer of large quantities of information between individuals and businesses and, as a result, the way we live our lives is changing. As high speed internet connections become more readily available, consumer’s shopping, reading, leisure and viewing habits are altering. The average person now spends longer on the internet, views a wider variety of pages than ever before, downloads more content, uploads more content and even makes phone calls using their internet connection. Recent advancements are even allowing consumers to stream HD (high definition) quality footage through their broadband connections

For businesses the changes are more dramatic. Long range and distributed project management, supply chains and intra company communications have all been enabled by broadband. Perhaps the biggest change is in the business models for service organisations. Their reach, and that of their competitors, has extended, requiring new strategies. Consumers’ choice and control has been amplified through the explosion of information available.

Managing PR and image in a world where anyone can publish anything, anywhere and at any time demands a proactive stance. Advertising, product placement and promotion have had to be rethought as the internet has become the dominant carrier of advertising revenue.

Policy makers face real challenges to ensure the region’s population is taking full advantage of the opportunities the broadband revolution has created. North East exchanges are broadband enabled and, with the exception of a few rural areas, everyone is within reach of broadband. However, take up and utilisation rates are low. More than this, a whole new underclass of digital exclusion is being defined by lack of access to facilities. This will involve providing people with access to both the skills and the infrastructure required.

Fact File

• There are nearly 300m broadband subscribers worldwide.
• 9,539,900 people in the UK are subscribed to broadband (15.9%). This is above both the OECD and EU15 averages. However, the UK is still behind the rates shown by countries such as Iceland, Korea, Finland and Belgium.
• The North East has invested in making 100% of its exchanges broadband enabled; it has the best broadband availability level outside of London.
• Broadband take-up in the North East is only around 18%.
• 80% of businesses in the North East have broadband, 90% have an internet connection of some kind.
• Around 2m homes in the UK are using the internet to send and receive phone calls, often for free or significantly discounted rates relative to traditional phone providers.
• Increased efficiency of broadband technologies and greater levels of competition between providers resulted in a decrease of 5% in communication spend between 2004-05.
• The average European accesses the net 16.5 days in a month and spends 24 hours viewing 2,662 web pages.
• The UK has the most active online population, spending more than 34.4 hours online each month and a peak of more than 21.8m people online in any given day.
• While the study reflects average net usage and penetration, 20% of users account for 60% of usage, with some people spending hundreds of hours online each month.
• Around 50% of households in the UK have a broadband connection.
• The average European accesses the net 16.5 days in a month, and spends 24 hours viewing 2,662 web pages.
• The UK had the most active online population, spending more than 34.4 hours online each month and a peak of more than 21.8m people online in any given day.