THE Government’s decision earlier this year to drop, or at least put back, targets for the roll out of universal broadband, was a bitter pill for rural communities to swallow.

While nobody expected the countryside to escape the Government all-embracing spending cuts, there was an expectation that this administration would look at rural Britain rather differently.

So, if rural areas are not going to get the connectivity so vital in the modern age as soon they would like, what are the options?

There are, of course, ways of getting broadband in areas where the public telephone network is not up to scratch.

But they are expensive and not always reliable. So, there is no option other than to make the best of what’s available – even if that’s old-fashioned dial-up.

The Country Land and Business Association’s internet charter is recognition that if we have to put up with slow broadband, those that deal with farmers and other rural concerns, have to give them a hand by taking account of the limited bandwidth available.

So, no more logo fests and multiple-image emails and making sure websites have a dial-up friendly version. If the countryside is to remain in the slow lane of the internet highway, the least it can ask for is any measure to ease the congestion there.