Faster broadband for rural Britain

Rural areas across England and Scotland have been allocated over £360 million to improve their broadband connections.

In doing so the government hopes that the is UK the best place in Europe for broadband by 2015.

According to the report on the BBC website, “up to one third of UK homes will not get fast broadband services from the big commercial players without government subsidy. This is because the number of people living in rural areas versus the cost of creating a next-generation broadband do not represent a good return on their investment for players such as BT and Virgin Media.”

The subsidy from the government will help some rural areas, however there is concern that it may not be enough to cover everyone.

Malcolm Corbett, who heads up the Independent Networks Cooperative Association (INCA), said: “That equates to around £70 per house or business while the cost of fibre is £1,000 per premises so there is a disparity between what the government is putting in and what it will actually cost to provide a future-proofed solution”.

Read the full article on the BBC website