RURAL communities are being overlooked in the race to speed up internet connections.

Telecom companies vying to provide fibre-based broadband to urban areas are ignoring the countryside, claim rural leaders.

The Country Land and Business Association called for faster broadband coverage across the nation, rather than just in built-up areas.

CLA vice-president Harry Cotterell said: “The super-fast speeds being hyped by Virgin and BT will only benefit a small section of society.

“Speed greed is creating the desire for ever faster connections, which will only be delivered in the cities. As a result rural Britain is being left behind.”

The CLA is calling on the government to ensure the same level of broadband is available to everyone through a universal service obligation. 

Urban children were able to watch high definition videos and communicate online with friends all over the world, said Mr Cotterell.

But slow connections meant rural children were unable to use computers to complete standard assignments set by the national curriculum.

Rural businesses too were losing out, said Mr Cotterell.

“The bottom line is that businesses based in the countryside cannot compete with their urban counterparts, thus holding back the rural economy.”

The comments came after Chancellor Alistair Darling used his budget speech to pledge to bring faster broadband to almost every household in the country by 2012.

Extending broadband was vital to ensure the entire country and economy benefits from the digital age, he said on Wednesday (22 April).

Virtually everyone would be able to get broadband speeds of 2Mb (megabits) per second, said the Chancellor.

This would leave only the most remote areas still left out.

Some 1.5m households are currently unable to receive 2Mb broadband speeds.

A BT spokeswoman said 99% of UK homes could already access broadband thanks to its "substantial investment" over the years.

"At the same time, BT is investing more than anyone else to increase broadband speeds across the UK and so we feel the CLA's comments are misplaced."

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