Rural British broadband lags behind ex-Soviet bloc
RURAL communities in Britain get worse superfast broadband coverage than their counterparts in Slovenia, Lithuania and Estonia, an official study has concluded.
The European Commission has rebuked the Government for doing too little to grant people living in the countryside access to high-speed networks.
Some 45.9 per cent of Britain’s rural households in 2014 had access to superfast broadband at 30Mbps, a level that allows users to watch films online, the report issued this week said.
That is “substantially below” the national average of 88 per cent, the EU’s executive said, and lower than the service offered to people living in former communist states.
Britain is currently lagging behind Estonia (57 per cent); Slovenia (58 per cent) and Lithuania (59 per cent).
Compared with Western Europe, the figure is even less flattering: Switzerland has 89 per cent coverage, Belgium 84 per cent, the Netherlands 97 per cent and Luxembourg 98 per cent. Malta tops the table with 100 per cent.
The Daily Telegraph started its Better Broadband campaign after the Government said some people living in rural areas do not “want to be connected”. But the Commission said: “Additional efforts are required to bridge the gap in the availability of superfast broadband between urban and rural areas.
“Widely available and competitively priced fast and ultra-fast internet access is essential to allow business and citizens to reap the full benefits offered by [information technology], access new services and remain competitive in the international market.”
Grant Shapps, the chairman of the British Infrastructure Group of MPs, said: “This new report confirms something we have suspected; our broadband just isn’t up to it, especially in many rural areas of the UK. It flies in the face of industry claims that 95 per cent of the country is adequately covered with high-speed broadband.”
The Commission was sceptical about the government’s pledge to bring ultrafast broadband of 100Mbps to “nearly all” homes in the country.
The report also shows that rural families have some of the worst access to high-speed mobile data connections in Europe. Just 9.4 per cent of country dwellers have access to LTE, the highest standard of mobile internet, against an EU average of 27 per cent.
It gives the British countryside worse coverage than rural Romania (17 per cent), Spain (20 per cent) and Hungary (15 per cent).
A government spokesman said: “Nine out of 10 UK homes and businesses can now get superfast broadband, and the government roll-out is reaching thousands more every week.
“We are on track to reach 95 per cent of the UK by 2017.”