Shropshire Star comment: Rural fibre optic roll-out needs speeding up

As time passed, expectations changed and home owners yearned for such mod cons as gas and electricity.

Telecoms, televisions, central heating and double glazing made it to the top of the aspirational wish list in more recent times.

Now, it's all about fibre.

The internet is a key facet of modern living. We depend upon it as much as centuries-old kings depended on messengers or regular folk needed stamps, letters and envelopes.

It sends information around the world in a nano second and enables us to remain connected with all aspects of our lives: from health and welfare to shopping and business.

It is essential, therefore, that we all have access to internet connections that are fit for purpose.

Just because we live in rural Shropshire and Mid Wales, rather than metropolitan London, does not mean we should be at the back of the queue.

The Government has pledged that fibre broadband will be in every home by 2033.

This pledge is welcome - but the timescale is troubling.

It is good news, of course, that improvements are being made and that we will eventually be connected to the quickest connections.

However, the fact that some may have to wait a further 15 years is bad news.

We are not being impatient or greedy in wishing for things to speed up.

The Government has shown a willingness to invest in major infrastructure projects and broadband is utterly crucial.

Many might ask how the nation can find around 80 billion pounds for HS2, for instance, when it cannot provide reasonable Internet within a sensible time frame.

Good connections are not about equipping families with the ability to watch Netflix or stream endless videos of skateboarding cats on YouTube.

They are about maintaining our channels of communication, economic competitiveness and security in a post-Brexit world.

They are also about giving our youngsters the ability to tap into educational resources so that they can keep up with children in the USA, Japan, Europe and elsewhere.

The internet is not just about shopping and entertainment: it is about job creation, prosperity for the masses and communication.

So while it is good news that we will all be connected to fast broadband in due course, we are not being unreasonable in hoping that the powers that be might expedite their fibre programme and not leave us waiting.

Those of us who choose to live in rural parts of the United Kingdom deserve better.