Minister attacking rural signal tells of contortions to use mobile

Farming Minister David Heath delivered a scathing assessment of the Government’s roll-out of rural broadband, describing how “a man with a stick would be quicker at delivering a message than my so-called broadband” at his home in remote Somerset.

The Lib Dem spoke colourfully about how he has to “squat against the sink” or lie across his kitchen counter in order to receive any mobile phone reception at home.

“How could I run a business from my home with that sort of provision?” he asked. “The simple answer is I couldn’t. It is a huge economic issue for rural areas.”

Mr Heath’s blunt comments, at a fringe event at the Liberal Democrat party conference in Glasgow, laid bare the deep frustration in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – where he is Minister of State – at the slow roll-out of communications in the countryside.

Defra’s role is to act as an advocate for rural areas – but digital infrastructure is the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). DCMS will miss its target to provide 90 per cent of the UK with superfast broadband by 2015, but hopes to reach 95 per cent by 2017.

Mr Heath said: “Sadly, (Defra) don’t have the lead as far as provisions are concerned. We’re in the unenviable position of being the people that shout about the fact that country areas are left out.

“But we have a serious problem if we blithely talk about 90 per cent coverage – that sounds great, except actually we live in the 10 per cent, in the rural parts of the country. We can’t afford that.”