Three to give villages free mobile broadband

Operator is working with Countryside Alliance and Race Online to tackle 'not-spots', but some question its motives

Mobile operator Three has teamed up with the Countryside Alliance to launch a project aimed at getting people online in rural areas that suffer from either poor or non-existent broadband.

The project, which will also involve the Race Online 2012 charity, will see the organisations work with local politicians to identify rural broadband "not-spots", and Three will give away around 4 million megabytes of free connectivity to rural users, alongside the dongles and mobile wireless routers needed to get people online.

The project aims to help communities, families and businesses in rural areas that, while not served by fixed-line broadband providers, do have access to Three's mobile internet network.

The first village to receive free connectivity will be Gringley-on-the-Hill in North Nottinghamshire.

However, some analysts are sceptical about the move. Jeremy Green, practice leader, telco strategy at research firm Ovum, thinks the initiative will give Three an opportunity to talk up its network and is part of the "pre-jockeying for more spectrum auctions".

"Generally speaking, corporate social responsibility doesn't have a high profile in the organisation," said Green.

"The problem with Three is that it was the fifth operator to go to market. However good or bad its network is, it is always playing catch-up – it's not a level playing field.

"The company tries as hard as it can to use every regulatory lever it can get. If this was a profitable endeavour, everybody would be doing it, meaning the company must be doing it for some other reason."