U.K. Residents Support Priority Superfast Broadband Rollout to Rural Areas

The United Kingdom's government is under pressure to increase funding for deployment of superfast broadband in rural areas following several public surveys confirming widespread support for positive discrimination in favor of the country's remote communities.

The "outside-in" approach of starting with rural areas first is supported by 62 percent of the population, according to the latest survey of 453 respondents by ISPreview, an independent site dedicated to information about broadband services and providers. Furthermore, 44 percent of all respondents wanted to go straight for fiber optic deployment in rural areas in a single hit, while only 20 percent agreed with the U.K. government's plan to provide universal access at a basic rate of 2 Mbps first, with the aim of completing this by 2012.