LORD Mandelson has met mobile phone bosses over plans that could boost rural broadband speeds.

Experts say the "universal broadband" concept would be perfect for rural broadband because signals could be carried over long distances.

But the proposal would require telecom companies to relinquish part of their frequencies to allow another operator to provide the service.

Mobile phone bosses would have to reach a deal over the 900MHz wireless spectrum originally granted to Vodafone and O2 in the 1980s

So far, they have shown little willingness to do so.

One report said Lord Mandelson's meeting with chief executives from O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3 was designed to "bang some heads together".

Lord Mandelson said: "Britain needs an active industrial policy in order to take advantage of opportunities for jobs and growth as we emerge from the downturn.

"A key component of Digital Britain is delivering a world-class telecommunications infrastructure to enable UK businesses to compete and thrive on a global scale. The UK's mobile network operators have a pivotal role in making this a reality.'

Universal access to broadband by 2012 was a core target in government's Digital Britain paper unveiled earlier this summer.

"The wireless spectrum will play a key role in increasing digital participation, including access to broadband in rural areas," said Lord Mandelson.