A member of the Scottish parliament is furious after he has discovered that five villages in Nepal have faster Internet connections than some of his constituents. Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Highlands and Islands, Rob Gibson, said this week that five villages in remote Nepal have a wireless Internet connection and "villagers can surf the net till the yaks come home". OK, so they might have a shortage of phone lines up there, but they have broadband while their apparently more high tech cousins in far flung parts of Scotland have barely a dial-up line to work with.

"If yak farmers in Nepal can be afforded high-speed access to the web why can't someone in Dunbeath?" Gibson seethed. He said if the Scottish executive was so keen on repopulating the highlands, with more than the current population of a few tough Scots, a few cattle and some sheep, then it needed broadband. Apparently cuddles and a few romantic evenings in does not do enough to produce more baby highlanders. Gibson was referring to a BBC Go Digital Program this week about a village in Myagdi where local educationist Mahabir Pun is using wireless Internet to keep in touch with remote villages.