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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, the previous Labour Administration in Scotland started a scheme to extend broadband specifically to rural and remote areas. Let us be clear: there is a difference between a remote area, where only a handful of people may live, and a rural area, which could be a village in the middle of Oxfordshire, for example and have a population of 1,000 or 1,500. There may be sufficient demand in that area to ensure the exchange is upgraded to take broadband, even though it may still be down a copper wire. There is already a scheme in Scotland. It is having problems in extending out to the remoter areas of the Highlands and Islands, but it does go out to what one would term the "rural areas" of Scotland.