Paul Millard of the CLA writes . . .

The lack of broadband access is forcing businesses that were once thriving in the countryside to relocate to more populated areas – and one of the real threats to the prosperity of rural Dorset is the absence of high speed broadband and effective mobile telephone coverage.

Access to high speed broadband and reliable mobile telephones is as fundamental a requirement for modern business as access to electricity and water.

But it is also important for the tourism and service sectors, as well as for private individuals.

We cannot allow people to run away with the idea that rural Dorset is a better place because of the absence of mobile networks and high speed broadband.

Improving access to mobile telephone-based services will not threaten Dorset’s cherished landscape or rural charm. What it will do is encourage vibrant growth within the county’s local economy.

Either the service providers need to be convinced of the economic viability of offering access to high speed broadband or there needs to be Government funding.

That has suffered a further set back with the Government’s decision to extend the target for providing universal UK broadband coverage by three years.

It can only exacerbate the urban-rural digital divide but it is not just business competitiveness at risk.

The broadband revolution is also coming dangerously close to perpetuating a social and cultural divide between urban and rural areas.

While we all recognise that the country is short of money and that cuts have to be made, in this instance the long-term cost to the economy will be greater than the short-term saving.

Dorset’s residents and rural businesses should not continue to be deprived of the essential ingredients of the safety and security, social mobility, vibrant communities and economic success that 21st Century communications technology can support.

The CLA will carry on fighting for better broadband and mobile telephone connectivity and highlighting the failings of Government and industry so that all of this generation will be able to use a technology that is changing the way we live.