[andyking]

We need more of this sort of thing.

It's arguably far more important to get good internet access to rural areas than to inner cities. If you're in Central London or Manchester, you can quite easily shop, meet others in your field of work, network, be entertained without touching a computer if you don't want to.

Meanwhile in remote areas, it's not so easy to pop out and do these things and the internet has been a huge leap forward - but we're being held-back by spotty, slow, distinctly iffy internet connections that just aren't capable of sustaining meaningful economic activity. The advent of the internet is a huge chance to revive rural communities which have been in decline for years now.

But while BT, Google and other companies concentrate their high-speed efforts exclusively on profitable inner-city areas which already have a plethora of other options, we're in serious danger of leaving "forgotten" rural areas behind. I have friends on a Scottish island which currently only has 512kbps on its exchange...