Rural broadband threatened by "political expediency"

NEWS Broadband campaign group Broadband4Britain is set to raise serious concerns next week over the continued lack of government support for rural areas that are unable to get affordable high-speed internet access. Earlier this month a committee of MPs told the government to go back to the drawing board with its broadband strategy for bridging the digital divide. The MPs recommended a defined timetable and government subsidy to boost roll out of broadband to rural areas where it is not economically viable to do so. But Broadband4Britain is warning of "short-termism" and fears this will be rejected as the government pursues more voter-friendly policies for its forthcoming re-election campaign. Andy Williams, co-founder of Broadband4Britain told silicon.com: "We're going to be publicly asking some very hard hitting questions about the next piece of government policy that impinges on rural Britain's ability to get broadband. We think a mistake is about to be made because of political expediency." The group's campaign aim is to ensure all businesses and homes are able to get some kind of affordable high-speed internet access by the end of 2003. Williams claims considerable headway has been made and that BT has done a "reasonably good job" but said there are still problems in rural areas and for businesses on the edge of towns and cities. One success the group has just achieved is getting its own Chepstow headquarters in South Wales hooked up with broadband after BT's trigger levels for the local exchange were reached. Williams said the company is now paying £100 per month for a faster connection than the one it was previously paying £700 per month for. He said the group celebrated finally getting the "switch on" over a cup of coffee: "It is a milestone in the campaign. Now we've got it we realise just how good it is and it has made us more focused to drive on and bridge the digital divide."