The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has said that the Government's target of ensuring universal broadband coverage by 2015 is unlikely to be met.
It states in a new report that while broadband "acts as an economic driver for rural businesses", between 15 and 20 per cent of people do not receive adequate speeds.
The Government aims to give everyone access to speeds of at least two megabits per second in three years time. It plans to put in place a superfast broadband network by the same year.
However, the report described the process of rolling out broadband as "slow, cumbersome and excessively mired in red tape." It said the government was "very unlikely" to meet its target.
The organisation also expressed concern that a lack of internet access contributes to a divide between urban and rural communities.
"Broadband should make it easier for rural businesses to compete on an equal footing with their urban counterparts. However, the lack of an infrastructure for fixed-line broadband simply accentuates the rural-urban digital divide," the CLA said.
Operators should be legally obliged to provide coverage by the 2015 deadline and even very rural areas should be given access to public sector networks, according to the report.
In 2010, the Government committed £530million (plus an additional £300million after 2015) to ensure speeds of at least two megabits per second for the entire country by 2015, promising the best broadband network in Europe.
Currently, one in seven British broadband users cannot get that speed. Some communities in Lancashire, North Yorkshire and Cumbria have become so frustrated by the lack of access they have dug their own trenches for broadband cables.
The superfast network due to be installed will have speeds of 24 megabits per second.
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