COMMUNICATIONS regulator Ofcom will force BT to reduce the amount it charges internet firms in a bid to cut the cost in rural areas such as parts of south Lincolnshire which suffer from lower speeds.</p><p>Slow internet connections, which affect houses in villages across South Holland and South Kesteven, have been blamed for holding back economic growth and Ofcom says driving the wholesale cost down will increase competition here for companies who buy their services from BT.</p><p>Lincolnshire County Council is bidding for a A[pounds sterling]20million funding pot to boost speeds in the county and last week we revealed that South Holland District Council bosses are asking for help from businesses to compile a picture of the problems faced in the area.</p><p>Ofcom says it will reduce the price by 12 per cent below inflation to services provided from the BT wholesale broadband network. It hopes that the cost saving will either be passed on to customers or used by internet providers to invest in improvements to the network.</p><p>Ofcom says it wants to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas - where there is better access to higher speeds and better choice for customers.</p><p>An IT worker in Bourne has launched a campaign to bring superfast broadband to the town after getting fed up with poor connections.</p><p>Bret Whitcombe (36), who works at Tandem Solutions in Falcon Way, said: aThe internet connection in Bourne is horrendous and not a good service at all.</p><p>aWe donat appear to be on the radar for BT to roll out faster broadband to us this year or next a or even 2013.</p><p>Bret said many people in town currently had a standard speed of 2MBPS broadband and that his aim was to get BT to roll out a faster connection speed of 20MBPS for everyone.</p><p>He said: aI suffer from a slow connection both at home and work.</p><p>aI believe if we could get this faster broadband rolled out it would improve productivity for businesses, schools and people at home. It would be fantastic.</p><p>Anyone interested in getting involved in Bretas campaign can contact him by e-mail on info@fbfb.org.uk or to sign the petition visit his website at www.fasterbroadbandforbourne.org.uk.</p><p>Alan Jackson, of Alan Jackson Computer Services in Spalding, said he thought the price reduction as a result of Ofcomas forced cuts will make little difference and said the problem lies with the ageing infrastructure at our exchanges.</p><p>He said: aI live in West Pinchbeck and I get probably one third of the service there that I do in Spalding.</p><p>aUntil we get new cabling all around the area that wonat change.</p>
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