Poor internet connections in the countryside are hitting rural property market, estate agents warn Sometimes people can buy Sky and get a satelitte connection, but if you're at the bottom of a valley and there are leaves on the trees it won't work. It's not an issue about price, it's simply that I have to advise clients against making a purchase. Last year a report from the Plunkett Foundation charity warned that 23 per cent of rural households in England have no or limited broadband. Plunkett Foundation spokesman Mike Kelly yesterday said: "It's a critical issue for the countryside. Having a fast broadband connection is as much of a building block in today's economy as the Post Office or trains used to be. The Government had originally intended their current plans will mean only 90 per cent of the country has coverage by 2015, but has been forced to revise this to 95 per cent by 2017. MPs three weeks ago criticised the "mismanagement" of the programme to roll out rural broadband claiming it seemed to have been designed to give BT a "quasi monopolistic position." Sky and Virgin Media have both focused their investment in superfast broadband services on towns and cities as the returns are better. Last month Lib Dem MP David Heath railed against the poor broadband service in his westcountry constituency by saying the broadband was so poor a "man with a stick" could deliver messages quicker. He added that he was forced to "squat against the sink" to take calls on his mobile.