To date one of the biggest barriers to wider Satellite adoption in rural areas has been cost related, with initial one-off hardware and installation prices reaching almost astronomical levels. As a result there is a 'high - moderate' likelihood that the government might offer some sort of subsidy solution.

Indeed some people are already benefitting from a similar solution after the Welsh Assembly Government launched a £2m 'Broadband Support Scheme'. This offers a subsidy of up to £1,000 for those who live in parts of Wales where even basic broadband connection speeds (0.5Mbps (512Kbps)) remain unavailable (full details).

The results from this could influence in a similar UK-wide scheme, although some ISPs remain sceptical and believe that the money could be better spent on supporting development of general broadband solutions for whole villages rather than just individuals within a village.

E. Extended Reach 15Mbps Fibre Optic Broadband BT FTTC Service (MODERATE LIKELYHOOD)

BT are known to be planning trials of a special Extended Reach Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC fibre optic) broadband technology. Existing FTTC services offer speeds of 'up to' 40Mbps by only running the fibre optic cable as far as your local street cabinet, with the remaining connection between homes, businesses and the cabinet being done using existing copper wire and VDSL2 technology.

However some street cabinets cover a wider area than BT's new 40Mb FTTC technology is able to cope with. During April 2010, at a BT ISP Forum, the operator proposed a partial solution. This would involve deploying a slower version of FTTC, offering sub-15Mb speeds, to areas with longer lines (e.g. rural locations).

Sadly BT were quick to warn that "nobody sees it being an economic prospect" to reach all remote locations with this method, which isn't surprising because some telephone exchanges and their local street cabinets are already too far for the fibre optic cable to reach. Still, this does look like a highly probable partial solution for the future. The first trials are set to begin before the end of 2010.

C. BT Broadband Enabling Technology (BET) Subsidy (LOW LIKELYHOOD)

BT's other solution, Broadband Enabling Technology (BET), is similar to the most common form of ADSL broadband and also works over existing copper phone lines (original news). However, unlike common ADSL, its performance is not restricted to 6.5km from your telephone exchange (approximate point at which broadband ADSL starts to become unstable / too slow for use). BET claims it can deliver speeds of up to 1Mbps at distances approaching 10-12km, increasing to 2Mbps when two lines are bonded together.

BET itself is better known as Single-pair High-speed Digital Subscriber Line (SHDSL) technology, which is a cousin of the more familiar Symmetric DSL (SDSL, same speed both ways) service for businesses. SHDSL combines elements from ADSL to work using frequencies that are not as prone to deterioration over distance.