Businesses in rural areas like East Devon are facing ‘extraordinary barriers’ to success because of poor broadband connections
Digital businesses are at risk as the government delays a drive to connect the countryside to high-speed networks, it’s been claimed.
In the recent spending review, a target to get 99 per cent of the country fully switched on by 2030 was put back to 2032, an announcement which Honiton and Sidmouth Liberal Democrat MP Richard Foord said is ’disappointing’.
He told a Westminster debate on rural businesses that ordinary medium-sized and small businesses in Devon face extraordinary barriers, including being held back by a lack of reliable broadband.
Only 56 per cent of premises in mid Devon have access to full-fibre broadband, he said, which is well below the national average.
Mr Foord cited the example of one constituent, Daniel Lennox of Sidbury, who runs a home-based digital business showcasing regional theatre productions.
“It is exactly the kind of enterprise that we want to be encouraging,” he said. “It is creative, based in the community and part of the future digital economy.
“However, it cannot run properly, given the lack of a decent internet connection to Daniel’s property, which has been left with a part-copper line that is unreliable, slow and not sufficient for a digital business.”
He said the case was far from unique, and while he welcomed the government’s £5 billion investment in Project Gigabit, the rural roll-out of fast connections, the delivery is falling behind.
“We must ensure that rural businesses such as Daniel’s on the edge of villages succeed, and that they do not fail because of unreliable or unavailable broadband,” he said.
Mr Foord has previously criticised Devon County Council for its failure to ring-fence money clawed back from a previous scheme to connect rural areas. The county earmarked the money instead for services for young and vulnerable adults.
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