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Rural businesses 'need broadband to grow'
Tuesday 3rd August 2010, by Daniel King
Businesses in parts of rural Warwickshire are missing out because they do not have access to fast broadband connections.
This is the view of the managing director of broadband giant BT. Bill Murphy said that businesses opportunities for trade and growth were passing by rural firms because they were unable to access the best connection speeds.
Speaking at the CLA Game Fair in Warwickshire, Mr Murphy told the Coventry Telegraph: "We have businesses in rural parts of Warwickshire who are still trying to make do with slower speed broadband.
"Clearly there are still gaps and we need to, with the government, look at solutions and find ways to roll out faster speeds to rural parts of the region."
He added that the "challenging times" we live in mean that everybody has to pull together to provide better broadband speeds to local companies, noting that the "internet is imperative to running a business".
Providing better broadband internet access in rural areas could also allow companies more choice in where they choose to locate their firm. As Mr Murphy said, the recession has resulted in a boom in start up companies. But whether people are running their business from home or from a remote location, "they need broadband to make their ventures a success".
The government recently released its Manifesto for a Networked Nation through the Race Online 2012 initiative.
According to Race Online 2012, there are ten million people in the UK who have never been online. Because of this they are missing out on "big consumer savings, access to information and education". Perhaps some of the broadband industry's plans to role out fast networks to rural communities could help to reduce this number.
