More than a quarter of households in Wales and Scotland cannot access high-speed 'broadband' internet despite BT Group's plans to extend access across the country by the end of next year.
Internet users in Northern Ireland were told last week of a £10m government award to BT that would enable it to roll out broadband to the most remote parts of the province. The move will make Northern Ireland the first region in Europe to be able to offer 100 per cent broadband coverage. It will also put it on a level pegging with London where the high density population has made it possible for BT to offer broadband much faster.
But the funding deal also highlights the huge regional differences across the UK.
In Wales and Scotland - where populations are more widely dispersed - tens of thousands of households still cannot access broadband because they live too far from a broadband-enabled exchange or their local exchange has not been upgraded.
About half of Britain's 5,000 exchanges have been equipped for broadband and BT says it is upgrading several others a day with more than 1,000 upgrades planned. But even at this rate many users will have to wait more than a year and many people in remote areas may never be able to access the high-speed internet over their telephone lines.
BT is testing alternative radio technologies and hopes to be able to introduce them before the end of the year. But higher costs mean users are only expected to buy the alternatives if the government agrees to pay significant subsidies.
"We are going from urban to semi-urban broadband coverage," says David Stansell, telecoms consultant at PA Consulting Group. "But full rural coverage is not there yet. It will be a while before the remote farms can look forward to engaging in DSL (digital subscriber lines - broadband carried over traditional copper wires). They will probably have to look at alternative technologies."
The main alternative for most users is satellite broadband but Mr Stansell says set-up costs are about £50 a month or more, compared with £15 to £30 a month for conventional broadband.
Barrie Desmond, a Welsh businessman who has set up Broadband for Britain, a campaign group, argues the main barrier to the slow adoption and roll-out of broadband is lack of awareness among potential users.
"Not a lot of people are getting the message over of the relevance of broadband," he says. "A lot of businesses are putting broadband in and they are suddenly expecting the world to change. Businesses need to be educated about the precise benefits of broadband."
BT aims to achieve 100 per cent broadband coverage by the end of 2005 but says it will need local authorities to commit funds along similar lines to last week's Northern Ireland deal.
