“Rural productivity has the potential to grow faster than the average expected rate for the UK, allowing the countryside to gain ground on towns over the course of a decade,” the statement published on the government’s official website said.
There could be a rise in #rural employment by 6% thanks to speedier broadband and better transport links http://t.co/ZfLMV1PRHj
— Defra UK (@DefraGovUK) 27 декабря 2014
According to the statement, the increased economic opportunities, created by super-fast Internet and better transport links, are expected to boost rural employment by 6 percent or 300,000 jobs as well as deliver higher wages. Rural areas in the United Kingdom are already home to over quarter of the country’s businesses despite only 18 percent of the population living in those areas.
According to Defra's analysis, rural workers are 83 percent as productive as those in the cities and towns.
Defra said that super-fast Internet will reach 95 percent of UK premises by 2017 with plans underway to connect the hard-to-reach 5 percent. By the same year, the United Kingdom also plans to guarantee reliable mobile phone network services across 90 percent of the country.
