Suffolk MP calls for greater scrutiny of superfast broadband scheme
The superfast broadband services in Suffolk must go faster, one of the county's MPs has said.
Dr Dan Poulter, the Conservative MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, has told the House of Commons this week that greater scrutiny is needed over the government's superfast broadband initiative, saying that in reality it needed "to go further and faster and more quickly".
Furthermore, the MP also pressed the government to reveal exactly what it is going to do to connect the final five per cent of the nation to superfast broadband, with rural areas in East Anglia among those that might miss out. At present, the government has set a target to provide 95 per cent of the British population with access to superfast broadband - speeds of 20Mbps - by 2017.
Dr Poulter directed his comments towards Ed Vaizey, the digital minister, explaining that fast and reliable broadband was the “single most important issue facing rural Suffolk and many rural businesses and homes”. While progress had been made, he said that the Better Broadband for Suffolk programme still had problems that needed addressing, in particular about BT’s behaviour as a partner in the scheme.
The MP told his peers that many of his constituents were suffering from “lower than advertised broadband speeds” and added that speeds had been slowing down at peak times as well. In response, Mr Vaizey said that while he was unstinting in his praise for BT, he believed "it does have some problems with customer service".
The second issue focused on ensuring a "digital divide" did not appear between the 95 per cent of residents and businesses that had superfast broadband and the five per cent that were left behind.
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