OFCOM are reporting that for the first time the take-up of broadband in rural areas (59%) now exceeds that in urban areas (57%).  Read the report for yourself here

But is this really the story? What is ‘broadband’ these days anyway? What’s happening in rural areas who are losing local services (post offices, libraries, job centres)? Even the shallowest of scratches to the surface of this report opens up further discussion – and plenty of it. What urban areas accept as high-speed internet access is not the experience in rural areas – this cannot all be regarded as ‘broadband’ and measured in this way by OFCOM – and then used as evidence of “job done”! I can just imagine the use of this report (or misuse) which has already started in policy circles.  And lets be clear, of course high-speed connection levels in rural areas need to be higher, much higher, than urban areas – how else are we going to make sure people have access to services, support and vital communication lines. This does not mean that we can sit back now – it means we have a lot more work to do! OFCOM – you should have done better.

Simon Berry over at RuralnetUK explains the issues much more eloquently here.

Miles the Regional ICT Champion over in London has done a summary of the OFCOM report here