SLOW internet and patchy mobile coverage in the countryside create an urban-rural divide, MPs said this week, as work on superfast broadband in Lancashire was stepped up.
A decent internet service was a ‘basic utility’ but many rural households were not connected at all, the Commons Rural Affairs Committee said in a report.
Disparities in council and school funding exacerbated what MPs said was a ‘rural penalty’ facing communities.
Ministers said the countryside should be a ‘great place to live and work’.
Rural areas make up 86per cent of England while a quarter of the population live in the countryside.
A British Telecom project is this summer linking up Bacup, Chatburn, Longridge, Aughton Green, Bacup, Bamber Bridge, Garstang, Kirkham and Burscough to high speed broadband.
The scheme is backed by Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Borough and the European Regional Development Fund.
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