Government broadband investment crucial to business survival, says CLA

The CLA says that a report by the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) - recommending no government investment in next generation access network - is "seriously blinkered".

CLA President Henry Aubrey-Fletcher said the rural economy would be severely hampered, along with the rest of industry, if government money was not ploughed into providing fast broadband services for all.

He said: "We are being left behind internationally on this issue, losing our competitive edge by the day."

CLA Head of Rural Business Development Dr Charles Trotman said: "We are not talking about playing games and watching videos – the very future of British industry depends on this.

"If we are not careful, our hopes for the broadband of the future will be smothered under a flood of conflicting reports while the rest of the world gets on and does it."

Henry Aubrey-Fletcher added: "We have said that the future is having fibre optic connections to every door, but we never said it would be cheap. Industry is investing billions, but the digital divide has left many rural areas unable to compete and amply illustrates the failings of relying solely on the private sector.

"The solution must be a public/private sector partnership with the aim of achieving total fibre optic availability within 15 years, or businesses will simply fold as the UK grinds to a halt leaving nations like Japan, Sweden and the Netherlands, which are already well ahead of the UK in broadband performance."