Ofcom: Country less divided by digital
Web 2.0
22 May 2008
The rise in rural broadband uptake has seen the countryside overtake urban areas in terms of high-speed connections, Ofcom has said.
It revealed homes in the shires are now better connected (59 per cent) than those in cities (57 per cent).
Ofcom's strategy and market developments partner, Peter Phillip, told the Guardian: "Initial broadband take-up was typically by young urban homes, which is similar to the take-up of many new technologies."
It claimed the figures signaled the end of worries of a 'digital divide', where certain groups are excluded from the internet and elements of modern life.
Mr Phillip noted buying goods online was more popular in the countryside: "In total, about three-quarters of rural internet users say they use the internet for transactions as well as for information, whereas for the UK as a whole it's lower than that."
Writing on his blog recently, the BBC's director of future media and technology, Ashley Highfield, described the digital divide as "the increasingly gaping void" between those who are, and those who are not connected.
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