Home and business broadband speeds in rural north-east England are said to be lagging behind other parts of the country.

Writing for the Journal, Pascal Fintoni - chief executive of Gateshead-based firm the Centre for eBusiness - claimed many properties in the region "lack a satisfactory service".

Although he acknowledged Virgin Media and BT are rolling out fibre optic broadband across the country, Mr Fintoni said these measures will not benefit the majority of consumers in remote areas.

But the commentator insisted there are options open to people struggling with poor connections.

"There may be alternative suppliers in your area or you could install satellite broadband," he remarked.

"Your council and community groups can lobby for improvements if they know about the problem."

His comments come just days after West Sussex County Council launched a survey to learn about the quality of business broadband services.

The local authority is calling for BT and other internet service providers to stamp out "not-spots" where fast internet is unavailable. 

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26th February 2011

it would be good if I had a good internet. I am with talktalk and they said I can get 14mbps because I live a street away from the telephone excharge. But I only get around 5-6mbps. I live in north yorkshire in a big town where there is fibre optic from virgin 20miles away but still nothing.