A study conducted by BE Broadband has found that two thirds of businesses believe poor broadband connectivity is impeding the growth of the UK economy. Businesses suffer when slow internet connection prevents them from using collaborative applications and cloud based services and the study found that 72% of people believe reliable, consistent broadband would make their business more competitive and efficient.

Around a third of the UK is currently due to miss out on super-fast broadband because it is not regarded as economically possible to offer services in rural areas. In the meantime millions of businesses and homes are left to suffer.

Poor broadband hinders business capabilities if they are outside the best areas for connectivity and businesses in rural areas simply cannot compete with businesses with high-speed broadband as they are not able to use the same applications and resources.

As BT announces its 50MB fibre-optic broadband product entitled BT Infinity and Virgin announce their 100MB service, the consumers and businesses located in major towns and cities should be jumping for joy at the prospect of super-fast broadband at their home or business. However those that live in rural areas sigh once again at the prospect of the digital divide widening even further. Rural areas will be stuck on 2MB max download with the rest of the country on 8MB and soon rising to 100MB.

Mark Seemann, CTO for Outsourcery said, "Many SMEs are struggling with the broadband they are being offered. The fact is that high speed broadband is becoming more and more vital for consumers and businesses, and this doesn't change whether you live and work in a rural area or city - it's critcally important. Therefore the issue must be solved if we are to close the digital divide, and create equal access to high speed broadband for all".