Rog Wood

This year's Royal Highland Show was used as a platform for its President, Lord Forsyth to launch an initiative to engage with the UK's largest communications businesses and highlight the situation of rural communities with poor telecommunications services, that essentially excludes them from the opportunities associated with high-speed broadband.

In this 21st century age of revolutionary technological change, getting fast broadband and decent phone coverage is as vital as being hooked up to mains electricity was in the last century. Today we have the opportunity for another leap forward as fibre cable and hilltop aerials are the gateways to global markets, education and innovation.

It is hoped that 95 per cent of Scotland's population will have full internet connectivity by 2020, but what about the remaining 5 per cent in the more remote and inaccessible rural locations? When, if ever, will everyone be fully connected.

The issue of mobile phone not-spots was driven home to me last week by the plight of a farming couple that I am friendly with. The wife told me that she was concerned about her husband's safety when he was working alone on their remote hill farm because it was a not-spot - that's an area where people cannot access mobile services. Her worry was that her husband would be unable to summon help if he had an accident.

The issue of mobile not-spots is a multifaceted one with five distinct types of problems - complete not-spots (no coverage at all) as was the case with my friend's farm, 3-G not-spots (no mobile broadband coverage), partial (operator-specific) not-spots, interrupted coverage on the move and indoor coverage. The impacts of not-spots varies from the daily effects of missing calls, to a loss of social connection or business efficiency, to undermining efforts to deal with emergencies as is the case with my friends.

Government departments, HMRC, banking, financial services and everyday retail transactions increasingly assume good access to the Internet. If coverage is unreliable or non-existent you're at a huge disadvantage. Everyone - farmers, vets, tradesmen, doctors, teachers, students and hoteliers - faces added costs and inefficiency in a communications black spot. The future of our rural communities and the quality of life hangs on being able to participate in this digital revolution.

House-buyers and those looking for business premises are discounting prices if a property lacks full connectivity, and some refuse to consider moving to such locations. A recent study by Just Economics for BT put the value of being on-line for a new user at £1064 per annum, for an advanced user it was £1756 and for a professional user the annual average benefit was put at £3568.

Sadly, economics dictate that telecommunications companies prioritise investments to improve delivery systems that serve larger groups of potential users, leaving smaller, more remote communities to wait - and Scotland has many hidden away among our hills.

If telecoms companies can't be steered to make the necessary investments, solutions may lie in the hands of rural communities themselves to get "fibre to their homes". Communities throughout the EU have developed innovative models of cable and aerial installation, and financing.

Addressing an invited audience at a seminar at this year's Highland Show, EU Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan said that community-led initiatives that bring fibre to the hardest to reach places first will stimulate existing providers to invest in their own infrastructure before they start to lose customers.

The Commissioner explained that: "One of the aims of the EU Digital Single Market package is to close the digital gap between urban and rural areas, with the ambition of providing fast or ultra-fast broadband across the EU by 2020.

"Roughly €21.4bn from the five EU Structural and Investment Funds will be devoted to information and communication technologies. Within this, approximately €6.4bn will finance the roll-out of high-speed broadband.

"The estimated contribution from Rural Development Funding will be between 1.6 and 2bn Euros".

Mr Hogan highlighted a project in rural Lancashire called Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) that will have connected 5,000 properties in 35 outlying parishes by the end of 2015. This success story came about because the local community came together and initiated a funding package. "Local residents have managed every stage of the process," the Commissioner explained, adding: "So I am convinced that our goals are achievable with joined-up thinking, enlightened collaboration, and - of course - funding. We have to use taxpayers' money to attract private investment."