The 4, 000 residents eligible to vote in the first local planning referendum live in the most sparsely populated area of England.

BBC: Will a planning referendum in Cumbria catch on elsewhere?

North-eastern Kenya, bordered by Ethiopia and Somalia, is a remote and sparsely populated area where lack of security is a problem.

BBC: British special constable shot dead by bandits in Kenya

But in such a sparsely populated area the access costs for high-speed data services are still too steep for most small businesses, to say nothing of individuals.

FORBES: Local heroes