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Broadband failing rural SMEs

Dec 08 2009

Slow broadband is holding rural small businesses back, claims the National Federation of Enterprise Agencies (NFEA).

George Derbyshire, chief executive of the NFEA, says: ‘There is a huge assumption that online working is available to everyone across the country. However, we know from talking to our rural networks that the internet is not always accessible to some of those who need it the most.

‘Business owners face enough challenges in getting a business off the ground, and quality and accessibility of their internet connections shouldn’t be one of them.’

According to a recent NFEA poll, 44 per cent of online businesses are based in rural areas.

In the recent Digital Economy Bill, the government made a commitment to offer at least 2Mb per second broadband across the country by 2012.

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