The war against satellite dishes could be entering new phase.

BT's wholesale division has announced trials of a satellite delivery service for high-speed internet access.

It's not quite broadband but a country mile further than existing services.

The service downloads information through a 65cm receive-only satellite dish at speeds of up to 256 kbit/s.

Higher speeds of up to 4Mbit/s will be available on a pay-as-used basis as the trial progresses. Users can then return information on a conventional phone line.

The service, which provides "always-on" email facilities and faster downloads, is aimed at small businesses and high-use residential customers. If successful, thought, it could be made available throughout the UK, including rural areas beyond the reach of digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable connections.

Telecoms operators have focused their attention on areas where they know a return on investment is guaranteed, the larger town and cities. BT said more than 70 per cent of internet users in the UK were connected to 1,010 BT exchanges which have been enabled for broadband, with work under way to enable a further 100 exchanges.

This excludes a significant number of internet users from the broadband revolution - not just the traditional rural constituencies but firms who prefer the cheaper rents of out-of-town business parks. Or firms who have to leave town because of a lack of affordable office space in our towns and cities.

Without universal access, the government's vision of Broadband Britain will be almost meaningless, with limited connectivity for large swathes of the country. High-speed internet access is becoming almost mandatory in these days of multimedia web sites and downloadable freebies. Nike's football web site provides a good example of why a 56kbit/ modem doesn't cut the mustard for people who want to use the internet for more than Google searches and online news.

The sports manufacturer's World Cup advertising push has begun with a campaign, which was directed by Monty Python's Terry Gilliam which features 24 of the world's elite players and comes in versions lasting three minutes, 60 seconds and 30 seconds, which can be downloaded from Nike's web site by football fans worldwide.

The three-minute advert is a 14.93Mb download. I am almost tempted to surrender to the stampede of the satellite dishes.