It seems that the oh-so awaited 4G auction might not be the answer to getting rural areas connected to better and speedier broadband, in fact a lot of areas might be missed out.

Bob Warner, Chairman of the Consumer Communications Panel (CCP), was reported by PC Pro as saying that remote areas may be left isolated as more emphasis will be put on getting urban areas with high densities connected to mobile internet.

At the moment Ofcom is planning to auction the spectrum (which will be made available from the digital switchover from analogue) while mobile operators are getting ready to start bidding.

According to the CCP's calculations 95 per cent of the UK will be covered with 4G, roughly three million people not being able to take advantage of the fourth generation mobile broadband services.

Mr Warner was quoted as saying:

"The current coverage estimate for mobile is 97 per cent, but what that really means is that 97 per cent of postcodes have at least 90 per cent coverage."

"So it's not 97 per cent of households - it's a lot less than that. It's actually 95 per cent or less if you measure it by household."

Mr Warner also said that out of the £22bn the government was able to get when auctioning spectrum for 3G, a very limited amount went back to the UK's broadband infrastructure.

He concluded:

"We need to do that this time, because we won't get this chance again until at least 2020."