Nigel Huddleston, Member of Parliament for Mid Worcestershire and member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has welcomed figures showing that more than half of the premises in his constituency have now been covered by the Superfast Broadband Programme.
In the Mid Worcestershire Constituency the current position is as follows:
· There are 44,702 premises in the constituency
· Of these, 23,603 have been covered by commercial deployment of superfast broadband
· Under the publicly supported programme, 13,660 had been covered by the end of March 2016 and
· 3,140 further premises are due to be covered by the public programme by the end date of September 2017.
Of the remaining premises in the constituency without planned access to superfast broadband, 4044 can access speeds between 10Mbps and 24Mbps. A speed of 10Mbps has been widely accepted as good for most private residential use, but many premises in Worcestershire are still suffering speeds substantially lower than this.
To date the Superfast Worcestershire Programme has been allocated over £6.8 million of government funding for Phase 1 and/or 2 of the Superfast Broadband Programme.
The Government have also made available a subsidised satellite broadband connection to all eligible premises which are unable to access a basic broadband of at least 2Mbps. This enables all premises to gain access to a functional level of Broadband.
Any homes or businesses which would like to take advantage of this offer can get further information and make an application via the local project team at: http://basicbroadbandchecker.culture.gov.uk.
By the end of March 2016, the government’s Superfast Broadband Programme had provided coverage to nearly 4 million homes and businesses, in collaboration with local authorities and the devolved administrations.
In the Queen’s speech the Government announced that universal broadband would be in the Digital Economy Bill, which will help us to provide a safety for those who are unable to access superfast broadband. This measure will ensure that no one is left behind and risks economic and social exclusion in the rapidly emerging digital world.
You can check the availability of superfast broadband services at http://gosuperfastchecker.culture.gov.uk/ from where you will be directed to available superfast broadband providers and for those who cannot currently get superfast broadband, some providers provide a demand registration service where you can register your interest.
Nigel commented:
“The progress that has been made is of course welcome but there is plenty more for Superfast Worcestershire and BT to do. I appreciate how frustrating it is for those constituents who the Programme is yet to reach however it is important to recognise how far we have come in a relatively short period of time. Broadband is now seen by many people as a core utility like water and power.
Broadband continues to be one of the top issues I am contacted by constituents about. I can assure them that I will continue to keep up the pressure on BT. I encourage constituents to monitor the Government and Superfast Worcestershire’s website to check when they can expect superfast broadband. I am also only too happy to step in when there are problems or mistakes are being made.”
ENDS
For more information contact Nigel Huddleston on 07789983719 or his Parliamentary office on 0207 219 5814.