Rural broadband access could improve retirement living in UK

While many urban retirement living communities may have access to high-speed internet service, an expansion to rural areas may benefit seniors who are increasingly using the internet to gain access to home care providers and social networking sites.


The problem may be that a government plan in the UK to provide universal internet access sets the bandwidth goal too low at two megabits per second, according to a Daily Telegraph editorial.

"As government services, business deals and all kinds of information move online, rural dwellers will suffer, for example, elderly people unable to have their health monitored remotely," notes Charlie Brooks in the piece.


In addition to telemedicine services, seniors in less populated areas may want to join the growing number of older people in the UK who use sites like Facebook and Twitter.


Two-thirds of those over age 55 have used at least one social networking site in the past year, according to comScore Europe research cited by Digital Journal. That was higher than the number of people who used business and finance sites or travel listings pages, the analysts noted.


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