As one businessman in Wallingford rightly points out: “In the past, the internet was a luxury but nowadays it’s just as important as using the phone.”

Dare we suggest: maybe even more important?

Five years ago, the internet was still viewed and used predominantly as an entertainment resource. Users were labelled ‘surfers’ as if to symbolise their recreational stance.

But in these few short, intervening years, the internet and its customers have grown up. Quickly. Like genetically engineered embryos, exploding from infancy to adulthood.

No individual or business can afford to boast of an internet-free existence. Internet connection today is as vital as mains electricity.

A day without being able to boil a kettle, switch on a lightbulb, watch TV, or cook a meal would be unthinkable. Rightly or wrongly, our worldwide culture has adopted the internet as its umbilical cord.

Which is why it’s vital that the county council continues to invest millions in superfast broadband connections for rural communities.

The world has changed and will move further over the next decade. None of us should be left behind.