Rural schemes bring broadband to countryside

From church spires to school roofs, broadband masts are springing up in the British countryside as residents try to avoid being left in the digital slow lane.

Despite a government commitment to spend £530m to make Britain the most networked country in Europe, about 10 percent of the country is unlikely to be reached by “superfast” broadband – and locals are taking matters into their own hands. The Country Land and Business Association said about a fifth of rural England and Wales could not access fast broadband, impeding 100,000 rural businesses from hoteliers to web designers. The government aims to provide universal access to standard broadband with a speed of at least 2 Mbps by 2015, with 90 per cent of premises in the UK receiving “superfast” speeds above that. BT, the telecoms provider, is spending £2.5bn to reach three-quarters commercially. Just two companies, BT and Fujitsu, are bidding for the funds via BDUK, the company set up to deliver the program. According to Ofcom, the regulator, 99.9 per cent of homes have fixed broadband access, but only 60 per cent have superfast.