The UK Government needs to do more to address the ‘digital divide’ between urban and rural areas in terms of the availability of broadband, according to a study out this week.
The report issued by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee recognises that the Government has been largely successful in its aim of making high-speed internet access available to a large proportion of the population (67%).
However, there is concern over the slow progress of broadband rollout in rural areas. The report quotes figures from The Countryside Agency which show that only 7% of residents in rural villages have access to DSL or cable broadband and the figure is as low as 1% in remote rural areas (see Countryside Appeals For Broadband Injection).
The Committee is calling on the Government to draw up a timetable for the complete rollout of broadband services and allocate adequate resources to support that policy. It also recommends that means should be developed for rural internet users to “piggy-back” on public infrastructure.
The broadband disparity between rural and urban areas is a hot topic and formed the basis of a recent conference organised by The Access to Broadband Campaign (ABC) (see UK Conference To Debate Broadband Divide).
