Broadband roll out disputed as two million homes go superfast
THE GOVERNMENT and BT say that they are on track to reach their target to get superfast broadband in 95 per cent of homes by 2017, announcing yesterday that 2m households are now connected to internet with speeds of 24mb/s.
However, Chris Bryant, Labour’s shadow minister for culture and the digital economy, expressed his concerns: “Only 2m premises have been connected, despite giving over a quarter of a billion pounds of tax-payers money to BT so far. No wonder Tory ministers have accepted they’ll miss their target by two years, and BT is warning it may end up being 2018 before it is completed.”
Bryant told City A.M “they are just hedging everything around with ifs.”
In December, BT appeared at the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Committee, and expressed concerns that there may be a delay in roll out.
Both the firm and the Department for Culture and Sport said yesterday that the speed of roll out has been increased, and they are on schedule to meet their targets.