Christian Fuchs and Maria Michalis give evidence to rural broadband and digital only services inquiry

Christian Fuchs and Maria Michalis have provided evidence to the UK government’s rural broadband and digital only services inquiry. The inquiry, run by The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee is examining broadband, mobile infrastructure and access to digital services remain a central issue for rural communities.

In their evidence Fuchs and Michalis draw upon their work with the EU Horizon 2020 research project “netCommons: Network Infrastructure as Commons” to note that there is dissatisfaction with the way the Internet is organized today, that many users are critical of corporate Internet monopolies, see democratic deficits, and have a profound wish for alternatives. The report submitted by Fuchs and Michalis also calls for the strengthening of the voice of alternative Internet providers by inviting such projects to the policy table; strengthening of civic/public-Internet partnerships; and better mechanisms of taxing digital giants.

The full evidence submission can be found on the UK Parliament website.