EVERY home and business will today be promised access to super high-speed broadband under Government plans to ensure rural areas are not left behind.

Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw will unveil the Government's Digital Britain report which is expected to include a pledge for everyone to be able to watch videos and live TV online by 2012.

He will end speculation over whether public money should be used to ensure the network reaches all parts of the country.

Concerns have been raised that if delivering the universal commitment is left to the industry, commercial firms will concentrate on providing the faster Internet connections in urban areas.

Communities in the countryside – where installing faster networks is more expensive – could be left behind.

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In publishing the report today, the Government has examined the experience in other countries including Germany, Australia, Portugal and the US where public money has been used to ensure investment in a new digital infrastructure.

Across the Westcountry, access to the Internet can vary enormously. Some areas can still only use dial-up services, which are incredibly slow and unreliable.

Those areas which do have broadband can often receive slow connections and become congested, particularly for watching videos in peak times.

Many new media and IT firms which have relocated to rural areas have complained they are unable to work properly without better broadband connections.

Ahead of today's report, ministers pledged to "consider the value for money case for whether public incentives have a part to play in enabling further next generation broadband deployment, beyond current market-led initiatives".

It follows fears congestion on the Internet network is going to be particularly acute in small town and rural areas, not served by cable and who already have much lower average speeds than dense urban areas.

The new digital Universal Service Commitment by 2012 will be provided through fixed and mobile, wired and wireless services. It is expected to provide everyone with a service of 2Mbps, a measurement of speed when referring to data transfer or bandwidth.

However, critics have complained that the plans should go much further.

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said: "While we welcome any proposals that will promote the use of broadband around the UK, if the Government is not ambitious with its plans the digital divide between city and rural areas will continue to grow."

Steve Tomkinson, director of Plymouth digital marketing agency Numo Group, said the 2Mbps universal service for all is "an acceptable level to begin with, but if in the longer term we are to keep up with the rest of Europe, any infrastructure that is put in place must be suitable for the necessary upgrades that will inevitably be required over the next five to ten years".

Earlier this year Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told the Western Morning News it is "really important" to have good broadband available in rural communities, for homes and "crucially" rural business.

Mr Benn said: "It is really important for me that rural areas get access to good broadband precisely because new hi-tech, high-skilled business have grown on the back of those improved technological links.

"Broadband is so important, in the way that the canals were the arteries of industry in the 18th century, the railways in the 19th and the road network in the 20th century." Today's wide-ranging Digital Britain report will also cover how to tackle online piracy, regional TV news and newspapers, the future of Channel 4 and the television licence fee.