MP desperate to get the broadband digital divide sorted out

A Suffolk MP has spoken out to state that an end needs to be brought to the digital divide between rural and urban areas because of the damaging effect this is having on rural parts of the UK.

For some years there has been a lot of concern over the digital divide that exists between rural and urban areas in terms or broadband accessibility. Many have said, and authorities have acknowledged, that many residents and businesses in rural areas are at a disadvantage because of the digital divide.

One MP from Suffolk has now spoken out about what he described as ‘broadband apartheid’, which he said existed between urban and rural parts of the country. Bury St Edmonds MP David Ruffley said that he understood that BT and other providers had to prioritise on bringing high speed broadband to major towns and cities but that it was vital that rural areas also got their share of broadband investment.

He said: “It’s not just getting the money but how it’s going to be spread out so rural dwellers are not discriminated against. I don’t want to see broadband apartheid against rural areas.”

He was also one of a number of Suffolk MPs that signed a letter sent to Broadband Delivery UK chief executive Robert Sullivan, stating that the county needed to be included in the government’s broadband funding plans. The letter also stated that in Suffolk almost two thirds of the population lived out of reach of commercial superfast broadband compared to a national figure of one third.