SIR — The Free Press has twice reported a major drive for faster broadband ((February 3 and 17).

The first said that businesses and residents across West Somerset were being urged to answer a "call to arms" in support of a major project to get superfast broadband, and the second reported that the campaign had got off to a flying start.

I have filled in the survey and registered my interest along with more than 8,000 others at the time of writing.

However, I was disappointed both with the survey and the lack of vision of the opportunities for new businesses as opposed to the needs of existing business.

When I came here 20 years ago with the intention of running my business from home via broadband within a few years, I found no way of doing so.

I was obliged into a weekly commute to London where, among other activities, I chaired the East London and Lee Valley Teleregion company.

We were installing fibre optic connections for small businesses there around the turn of the century.

I was an early member of the Tele-Cottage Association (1993) and of the Broadband Stakeholder Group (2001) which were established and promoting teleworking.

In its plans for the South West region about a decade ago, the Regional Development Agency did not give prominence to the opportunities for teleworkers to export from our region to London, Europe and the world, the administrative and information services which businesses and governments abroad sorely needed and are now buying from India and the United States.

This omission is reflected in Connecting Devon and Somerset's questionnaire - it is directed only to businesses and residents already in Somerset and Devon, not to the large number of businesses that might be persuaded to come from outside to the rural areas of our counties.

The survey does not even list the information and knowledge based professions (eg law, accountancy, management consulting, editing...) among its boxes to tick.

Yet these are the businesses which require broadband networks to link together all their employees and to service many of their distant customers.

As the proverbial teacher said: "Hands up those who are not here" and, seeing none, then went ahead happily with her lesson.

I live in Crowcombe and am aware that our school has had for some years a glass fibre connection to the internet which is used for less than 15 per cent of its available time.

Yet for accounting rather than technical reasons, British Telecom does not permit and enable businesses in this village to connect to its existing network.

We need to see faster broadband as an opportunity to attract businesses which are not yet to here; then we will be able to meet our needs to develop new environment-friendly export industries alongside tourism, electricity and fine food.

Adrian R D Norman,

Crowcombe.