Politicians demand answers from BT

South Derbyshire politicians are demanding answers from the communications giant BT after claiming that broadband services in the area extremely slow and the telecoms giant is doing little resolve the issue.

Anger against the communications giant BT has been expressed recently by a group of politicians from South Derbyshire over the services that are being received by residents and businesses in the area. The politicians have claimed that both business and residential users in the area are suffering because of extremely slow broadband speeds, and that BT is doing little to nothing to try and sort the problem out.

One council official from the area said: “We’re getting small businesses not able to survive because they can’t get reliable broadband. It’s so poor, especially at peak times, that it drops out completely.” The local Labour MP for the area added: “How acceptable is it that a village like Hilton in my constituency, which has a population of nearly 4,000, should have a speed that is too low to enable people to carry out any normal domestic activities? Its thriving business sector also struggles with a speed that is unacceptable. Is it not correct to take a tougher regulatory line with BT?”

BT denied neglecting the area, and one official said: “Almost all of BT’s exchanges across the UK support broadband speeds of up to 8Mbits/sec, ensuring that rural areas in the UK enjoy a high level of broadband availability. This contrasts strongly with other countries where broadband roll-out has been focused on urban areas at the expense of rural communities.”

He also said: “However we are aware that there are a number of homes in rural areas that receive slower broadband speeds as a result of being too far away from the exchange. We are in active discussions with the local authority in South Derbyshire to understand the broadband challenges they are facing and are investigating all possible options.”

Source – Pc Pro