Star comment: Shropshire joining in the digital revolution

That it does so is down to many different factors. The county has a good infrastructure for businesses and there are good rail and road links to larger cities.

There are numerous business organisations that provide assistance and support for those who ply their trade and want to expand. And the region is also home to a disproportionately high number of creative and entrepreneurial individuals who constantly innovate or find new gaps in the market place.

In order for Shropshire to maintain its market share, it requires continued investment. And one of the areas in which it most needs to improve is in the field of digital communications.

The digital revolution has been as profound and game-changing as the Industrial Revolution, which began in Shropshire many years ago.

We communicate in real time with businesses around the globe, relying on the internet rather than post, talking via Facetime or Skype rather than travelling to some distant meeting.

Businesses that do not have fast, reliable and efficient internet are at a distinct advantage when compared with their metropolitan competitors.

It is against that backdrop that the Connecting Shropshire programme is delivering fast broadband to more than 90 per cent of the population.

However it has come in for criticism from some quarters by those who feel areas of the county are being neglected.

Today Steve Charmley, who is leading the programme, has set out to address these concerns head-on. This in itself is a welcome move and will allow readers to make up their own minds about whether any of the criticism is justified.

What is clear from his open letter is that it is an extremely complicated process that is bound by strict conditions.

Clearly with the Connecting Shropshire programme there will still be those left disappointed but, as is made clear, the aim is to deliver fast broadband to as many people as possible.

The desire to further the project is welcome. And while there will not be a happy ending for everybody, Shropshire will certainly be in a far stronger position – not least for its businesses to compete in the modern world – at the end of the project than it was at the beginning.