This government is often accused of being target mad. It seems to have targets for practically everything, particularly in health and education. Rule by target can, however, bring dangers, not least with practitioners being tempted to spend too much time massaging figures rather than improving the quality of service. But one area where it is vital to meet the target is in internet access. The government is committed to achieving universal access by 2005. In practice, it ain't going to happen (unless civil servants start redefining universal access to include having a library within a few miles).

The latest figures released this month by National Statistics show that despite making welcome progress - 47% of households are now online compared with 25% three years ago - there is no way that anything close to 100% penetration will be achieved by 2005.

This is because most of the people rich and eager enough to go online have already been converted. It will become increasingly heavy going to persuade the rest to come on board even if they could afford it.

And there's the rub. Those people who could most benefit from the internet are the least likely to take the jump. One horrifying statistic says it all: in 2002-03, 86% of the richest people (ie the highest decile group) had internet access, while the poorest 10% had only 12%. Given the obvious advantages of being on the web - access to universal knowledge, email, cheaper shopping and so on - this can only widen the opportunity gap between rich and poor. The internet, hailed as a digital leveller a few years ago, is widening the gap it was supposed to narrow.

Of course, to get the full benefits of web access you need high-speed access through broadband. During the year to May, there was a decline of 5.1% in new dial-up (ie slow) connections to the internet compared with growth of 179.5% for permanent "always-on" broadband connection, albeit from a much lower base. No figures are available, but you can be pretty certain that it is the rich, not the poor, who are leading the dash to broadband.

What can be done? The government, to be fair, has put a lot of energy into expanding broadband, not least by pressuring BT to lower its wholesale prices and to make it widely available. What is lacking is a change in the mindset of ministers to regard broadband access not as a career move for richer people but as a right - like getting tap water and electricity delivered to your home. The provision of water and other utility products has long since been privatised. It is time for the government to take an even more proactive role.

There are plenty of ways of providing broadband - including satellite delivery (expensive now only because it is a minority sport), ADSL, wireless Lans (local area networks), optical fibres and some of the esoteric things BT's research section can do with existing copper wires. It is now more than 16 years since the debate about "broadband to the home" was started in earnest, yet only 16% of current subscriptions are for this method. Could do better.