Rural association calls for faster broadband
An association for rural businesses has added its weight behind a campaign to get faster broadband speeds in the Lincolnshire countryside.
The Country Landowners Association (CLA) represents farmers, landowners and rural businesses. It has urged the UK government to do more to service more secluded parts of the country that have not yet been reached by commercial superfast broadband roll-outs or the Broadband Delivery UK initiative.
The news comes following the release of government figures earlier this month, which showed that more than three million homes and businesses nationally have access to superfast broadband. Westminster says it is on track to meet its target of getting 95 per cent of Britain access to superfast broadband by the end of 2017.
However, this has triggered concerns over what will come of the final five per cent, which is typically remote parts of the UK that are very expensive to connect.
CLA East regional director Ben Underwood said: "Government should not be congratulating itself until we have universal broadband provision, for all homes and for businesses everywhere.
"Rural firms and countryside communities have been strangled by poor or non-existent broadband for far too long. The roll-out programme highlighted is important and we acknowledge the success it has achieved, but for thousands of homes and businesses with no, or inadequate, broadband this announcement will not be a reassurance."
He added that too often targets are being missed and said that it was "not acceptable" to have no plans in place of how to service the final five per cent of the UK with superfast broadband, Horncastle News reported.
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