Carter broadband snub slammed

Lord Carter's comments that it wouldn't be worth deploying a next-generation broadband network in many rural areas have been met with anger.

He said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that there was no economic case for deploying a next-generation network in 25 to 30 per cent in the UK.

The Country, Land and Business Association (CLA), which campaigns for better web access in rural areas, was outraged.

"We have a world where social and economic deprivation is growing because of a lack of access to fast internet connections," said the CLA's Henry Aubrey-Fletcher.

"The economy is being divided because many rural businesses simply cannot compete with their urban rivals. School classes are split because of some children’s inability to do set homework online. Communities are being divided because people are seeking to move to a home that has broadband," Aubrey-Fletcher continued.

Previous comments from Carter, the man behind the Digital Britain report, and network owners BT, suggested that the countryside would not be neglected.

In the Digital Britain report, Carter cited an acceptable minimum speed of 2Mbps for all homes in the UK, enough to support video-on-demand services such as the BBC's iPlayer.

A Digital Britain summit took place last week, with members of the public able to participate through Twitter.