The ‘Hotspots South East’ campaign will make it even easier for South East businesses to stay in touch and drive commercial success through a more widespread availability of wireless broadband technology.
The campaign is being led by the nine sub-regional broadband partnerships in the South East, which aim to complete their hotspot networks by December 2006. At this point, visitors to and residents of the region will never be more than a ten minute drive or five mile radius of a wireless broadband connection for work or leisure.
The Broadband East Sussex Partnership is the first to launch its completed network of hotspots. It is now helping businesses connect to broadband and exploit the technology and applications to enable them to compete in a fiercely competitive global marketplace.
Broadband East Sussex’s Programme Manager, Cheryl Clemons, said: “High-speed internet access is an increasingly decisive factor when people choose where to spend their leisure time, book a room, have a coffee or hold a business meeting.
“As a county which does not contain a motorway, and has a dispersed population, broadband technology is a vital ingredient to reinvigorating its rural communities, improving business competitiveness and galvanising the economy of the area. Businesses recognise this and we have had a huge response to our campaign in East Sussex.”
Hotspot is the term for public spaces that are equipped with wireless Internet access. They are cropping up everywhere because demand is high and there is a compelling business argument for hosting a hotspot in all types of organisations.
The South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) supports the campaign as part of its wider remit to enhance the social and economic development of the region. SEEDA’s Head of Programme Delivery, Peter Sinclair commented: “Hosting a hotspot affords a number of business advantages - attracting more customers and encouraging visitors to stay on site for longer. This can lead to increased revenue and profit and enhanced customer satisfaction and loyalty. More importantly, this initiative is aligned to key themes in the new Regional Economic Strategy for the South East (RES) where broadband and ICT are identified as pivotal to accelerating business competitiveness, promoting greater innovation and championing smart, sustainable growth.”