Posted: 18th Jun, 2003 By: Anne
Today we received an email informing us about the rural area network which is a way of getting broadband into the rural areas.
The Rural Area Network (RAN) will consist of a series of strategic aggregation points for telecommunications traffic across a particular rural area, with the objectives of encouraging competition, decreasing the cost of
telecommunications services and increasing the number and diversity of potential broadband suppliers. It will also stimulate demand for broadband access from local SMEs and community groups by demonstrating business benefits and potential applications.
This project will be piloted in the Borders, with Galashiels forming the primary aggregation point for demand and backhaul to Edinburgh. It is expected that a number of Broadband Fixed Wireless Access technologies will be deployed in the various towns to support 'last mile' delivery of high-speed unmetered access to the Internet.
RAN will also have close links to the other broadband projects in the programme, particularly the Neutral Broadband Website, e-Business Demonstration Centre in Selkirk and the Mobile Broadband Learning Unit, all designed to stimulate demand and increase awareness of the business benefits of broadband connectivity.This could be the answer for those wanting broadband in rural areas or small villages that will not have broadband access. There is more information about wireless and Powerline broadband on
Scottish Enterprise