Plans by the communications watchdog Ofcom to boost the adoption of super-fast broadband risk leaving rural areas behind, it has been claimed.
Proposals on next-generation broadband from industry regulator Ofcom will not help rural access to the technology, according to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA).
Ofcom has announced a series of measures which will deregulate the broadband market. These include supporting the fibre-based wholesale products that BT offers to other providers and letting other firms invest in broadband networks in the future.
The watchdog believes that these steps will help the UK on the road to universal access to super-fast broadband.
However, CLA president Henry Aubrey-Fletcher attacked the announcement and accused Ofcom of "[failing] to understand the needs of rural communities". Mr Aubrey-Fletcher argued that this deregulation will instead further the UK's digital divide and potentially leave the rural economy "on its knees very soon".
"If we are not very careful, rural people will become second class citizens compared to those in urban conurbations," he added.
The government has pledged to provide broadband access for everyone in the UK in its Digital Britain report. However, this guarantee only extends to providing speeds of at least 2Mbps, far inferior to the speeds which Ofcom hopes to foster with its proposals.
Mr Aubrey-Fletcher concluded: "The CLA calls once more on both the public and the private sector to understand that neglecting rural Britain by failing to provide accessible broadband will turn a difficult position today into an intractable one for the future."
