Cable.com
Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville is supporting the CLA's latest rural broadband campaign.
The actor, who has also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters such as Notting Hill and Burke and Hare, is backing the initiative - a touring roadshow that will visit isolated communities across England from Sunday (October 30th 2011) to November 6th.
In staging the campaign, the CLA hopes to raise awareness of the problems that residents and businesses in these areas face in trying to access the web.
Among the areas set to feature in the tour are Marchwood in Hampshire, which will be visited on the opening day, as well as Wray near Lancaster on Wednesday November 2nd and Morsholm in Yorkshire two days later.
Bonneville lives in a village 40 miles south of London and describes the broadband service available in the area as "pretty pathetic". He is keen to see internet service providers and telecoms firms place more emphasis on improving connectivity in similar locations.
"I'd love to run aspects of my work from home; I'd love to sign up for services that stream content but the connection's just too unreliable," he remarked.
"Some days I can't even send an email and there doesn't seem to be much I can do about it."
He expressed particular frustration at BT, stating the adverts for its Infinity fibre optic broadband service "drive me nuts" after the telecoms giant refused to bring the technology to his community due to insufficient demand.
"The best broadband connection I've experienced was a lot further than 40 miles from London - it was in Liberia," Bonneville added.
According to the CLA, around 20 per cent of rural England is unable to access an adequate broadband service - an issue the organisation's president William Worsley described as unacceptable.
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