The National Rural Conference 2021 Conference Sponsor - BT

Helping you do more for less

Local government organisations are under increasing pressure. Although you’re being asked to reduce costs, you’re expected to deliver economic growth, while improving the quality of your services. But technology can help.

With the right technology partner, you can accelerate the flow of information between people and organisations. By driving efficiencies and improving collaboration, we can help you do more for less. Quickly and securely. And that will have a big impact on the lives of your people, and the citizens you serve.


Our purpose is ‘We connect for good’.  When we do this, businesses grow, communities flourish and people get more out of life.

With the biggest and best fixed and mobile networks in the UK, we understand the critical importance of world-class digital connectivity, wherever you live, work or travel.  That’s why we’ve committed to a full fibre future, investing over £15bn to reach 25m premises by the end of 2026 with gigabit-capable, future-proof connections.  Why we’re ensuring that our fibre build is balanced – as part of the 25m target, our network delivery business, Openreach, will connect over six million premises in harder-to-reach and rural parts of the country.  And why our EE mobile network provides the best coverage in rural UK – we’re investing further and faster through the Shared Rural Network programme and we’ve committed to delivering 5G beyond our 4G footprint by 2028.  For hundreds of thousands of households where their fixed line can’t deliver the broadband service they need, the EE 4G network is also able to provide a wireless alternative in the home.

We’re a key partner for governments in all parts of the UK to ensure families and businesses have reliable connectivity where the market can’t deliver, whether through BDUK schemes across the UK, R100 in Scotland or Superfast Cymru in Wales.  And we’re working closely with policy-makers to find solutions to connect the very hardest-to-reach. 

BT is seeking more partnerships with local authorities by using technology to regenerate the UK’s towns, cities and villages, rebooting the country's economy post-pandemic.  We are creating a ‘digital fabric’ for the next generation of public services which will support inclusive growth and is reusable, scalable, flexible and future-proofed.  The foundation of this is converged connectivity – our market leading wireless and full fibre networks – with an overlay of devices, data, skills and applications.  This can help drive better social and economic outcomes, such as inclusive growth, productivity, green recovery, and support stronger communities and the wellbeing of citizens.  From healthcare to education and manufacturing and agriculture, the technology solutions BT provides is a key enabler for positive change.

For rural communities, the opportunities created by digital are huge – so we need to think beyond smart cities and get to smart rural too.  Independent research, recently commissioned by BT, and available here demonstrates some of these benefits and how we can best realise them.

For more information please visit www.bt.com.  Public sector organisations can find out more about what we can provide and how we can work with you at www.business.bt.com/public-sector/local-government/

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