The National Rural Conference 2025

Bookings are now officially open for the National Rural Conference 2025, which will take place online from Monday 15 to Thursday 18 September.
This is the Rural Services Network’s flagship event of the year, bringing together rural decision-makers, practitioners, and advocates for four days of live, interactive sessions focused on the future of rural communities.
Click here to book!

End of the landline will hit rural communities hardest

The Farmers Guardian reports that despite the announcement that from 2025 all households and businesses will need the internet to make calls, many countryside communities are still struggling for mobile phone reception or to reach internet speeds of one megabit per second

Rural organisations are concerned that the roll-out will come too soon, only widening the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

Stakeholders have urged the telecoms industry not to rush these proposals through and instead make the Shared Rural Network a priority to help address longstanding concerns over a lack of decent 4G coverage in rural areas.

Full article:

The Farmers Guardian - End of the landline will hit rural communities hardest