Online access crucial to helping people stay informed

Broadband access can have far reaching impacts beyond simply providing us with entertainment and communication. According to Helen Miner, Managing director of UK Online Centres believes the net is helping many people become more able to make an informed choice on many different issues.

Ms Miner said: “”The internet can save people time, hassle, and even money, and everyone should have an equal chance and an equal choice to access those benefits, and make use of those services. People are at a disadvantage if they are not able to take digital opportunities or make digital choices”

This news follows recent research from PayPal that suggest those in rural communities are quite heavily reliant on the internet for things that would otherwise mean a trip into town – such as online banking and shopping abilities.

Of course, much of this is common sense – but there are always knock on effects. For example, online shopping, banking and email has likely reduced the amount of carbon that would normally have been expended in these activities, and having easy access to information like a huge multitude of news sources and independent citizen journalism can help people to stay better informed from a political standpoint.

Broadband comparison and other forms of comparison site are a great example of how the internet can be used to save money and stay more informed than those who haven’t yet signed up, and it’s this financial impetus and ‘divide’ between those with broadband and those without that the government is determined to tackle.

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