By Mark Ward BBC News Online technology correspondent

Rural areas in south-east England could soon be getting access to the internet via satellite broadband.

As part of a regeneration plan for isolated areas, the development agency that looks after the south-east is offering 300 grants to help pay the annual bill for high-speed satellite net access.

As well as cash grants, the agency is providing training to ensure those using the fast links get the most out of them.

The grant scheme is part of a larger plan to turn the pockets of high-speed net links spread across the south-east into a cohesive network.

Cost burden

Despite being the centre of Britain's technology industry, some parts of the south-east are poorly served by internet firms.

"The south-east has the third highest number of people in the country lacking internet connections," said Anthony Dunnett, chief executive of the South East England Development Agency, (Seeda).

South-east regions

Berkshire Buckinghamshire East Sussex Hampshire Isle of Wight Kent Oxfordshire Surrey West Sussex

Mr Dunnett said that east of the M23 motorway, many rural and remote areas have no other option but to connect to the net using a dial-up modem.

Because there are no universal service obligations for broadband, telecommunication companies are not obliged to shoulder the high cost of providing fast links to rural areas.

In an attempt to improve the situation, Seeda is providing grants of up to �1,066 to 300 organisations to help them get broadband via satellite.

The grants were aimed at small businesses, said Mr Dunnett, because more than 90% of the 250,000 companies in the south-east employed fewer than 10 people.

Initially the grants will be available to organisations in Hastings and Rother, the Isle of Wight, Thanet, Winchester and Oxfordshire.

As well as providing links to individual companies, Seeda is also planning to set up hubs that allow groups of small businesses to share the fast connection.

High fibre

If the scheme works well, the agency may extend it to organisations anywhere in Seeda's catchment area.

Small and medium-sized businesses are being targeted but other organisations, such as schools and clinics, can also apply.

Mr Dunnett said training would be given to anyone winning a grant to ensure they got the most out of the fast links and learned about the benefits of electronic commerce.

Always-on broadband connections could change the way that businesses used the net, said Mr Dunnett.

Seeda is also working on a plan to create a region-wide high-speed fibre optic backbone by mapping existing cables and linking up the isolated sections with new lines.

Seeda was set up in April 1999 as one of nine English regional development agencies to improve the quality of home and business life in their part of the country.

The south-east is the largest of the nine regions, contains more than eight million people and has a land area larger than Austria.