KC's Director of Consumer Services, Nick Thompson, told ISPreview.co.uk:

"Virgin Media's open-door policy to the CLA and other rural groups is a step forward, however there is no guarantee that it will result in positive action and provide those in remote spots with much needed broadband access.

KC's service area is disproportionately rural compared with the rest of the country, and we are committed to delivering a universal minimum 2Mbps broadband to even the most remote reaches of our network by the end of next month, as well as rolling out guaranteed 100Mbps fibre to the home to over 15,000 premises by the end of the year.

If the UK is going to meet the government and EU targets and lead the rest of the world in Super Fast Broadband by 2015, ISPs need to ensure the whole country is connected. Failure to do so could cause long-term damage to rural communities and will only widen the digital divide."