Virgin Media O2 report shows benefit of improved rural connectivity for manufacturers

Communications provider Virgin Media O2 is calling for more collaboration between policy makers, planning authorities and landlords to improve digital connectivity in rural areas to help manufacturers.

The firm's 'The Great Rural Revival Report’, based on economic modelling from the centre for economics and business research (Cebr) found that improved rural connectivity could boost the UK economy by £65.1 billion and lift employment by 6.8%.

READ MORE: Virgin Media O2 Business expands 'Connect More' programme into Reading

Meanwhile, turnover for rural manufacturing businesses could be boosted by more than 7% with excellent connectivity, with jobs rising by almost 8%.

Many factories sit far away from cities and urban areas, with nearly half of manufacturing jobs located in rural areas.

Virgin Media O2, which has a base in Reading, said that around one in six rural manufacturing business decision makers surveyed had said they would make greater use of technologies such as remote stock checking / inventory management and fleet management technology. But these technologies need to be underpinned by connectivity.

"The manufacturing industry is key to the success of the UK economy, and our Great Rural Revival report demonstrates that improved connectivity can unlock an additional £8.8 billion of further growth for rural manufacturing, as well as increasing employment by almost 8%," said Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2.

"The last decade has seen fixed and mobile networks rolled out to new corners of the UK and we are committed to continuing this rollout,” she added.

"By working closely with industry partners, the UK Government, planning authorities and landowners, we can deliver the essential network upgrades that will enable rural manufacturers to adopt new technologies and continue to thrive."

As part of the UK government's shared rural network (SRN) programme, earlier this year Virgin Media O2 announced it had further expanded its 4G network to an additional 50 sites and secured planning consent for work at a further 100 sites.

The company said its work with British Sugar was an example of what could be achieved. For nearly two years, the company has enjoyed the UK’s first multi-site 4G (and 5G ready) private network, spanning Norfolk, Suffolk and Nottinghamshire - a total operational area of 2.17 square kilometres.

This has allowed it to install multiple IoT (Internet of Things) devices and the develop several ‘factory of the future’ use cases, including introducing AI to monitor operations in real time and predict downtime in advance, and enabling the use of cutting-edge robotics to streamline production even further.

Dr Nandini Chakrovorti, associate director of digital engineering at the manufacturing technology centre, said: "In a world of reduced resources, manufacturers are under increasing pressure to optimise their processes to extract the maximum value at all times whilst minimising their impact on the environment.

"Technologies such as AI, robotics and digital twins all significantly contribute to this endeavour."

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