Gerald calls for action on Broadband

Gerald has co-signed a new report from the British Infrastructure Group of MPs (BIG) revealing that despite £1.7bn of taxpayers’ cash being pumped into subsidising the construction of UK high-speed broadband, there are still a staggering 5.7million people across Britain who cannot access the internet at the Ofcom required 10 Megabits per second.

In 2016 people rightly expect access to high-speed internet connections. Whether at home or work, fast broadband should be a reality in all our communities. Sadly, this is not yet the case. In Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney people are dealing with some really poor connections and gaps in services. In fact Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney falls into the bottom 10% of seats for average download speed and access to superfast connections

The report, ‘BroadBad’, calls on the regulator Ofcom to take radical action over the ‘natural monopoly’ too long enjoyed by BT Openreach. The comprehensive report, which details connection speeds in every part of the country, argues that given our modern economy being so reliant on the internet, it is time to stop being held back by BT’s lack of ambition and underinvestment.

Gerald said whilst co-signing the report;

“I believe Britain should be leading the world in digital innovation. Yet instead the Britain suffers from having a BT run monopoly clinging to outdated copper technology with no proper long-term plan for the future. Britain needs to start converting to a fully fibre network so it is not left behind the other nations who are rushing to embrace digital advancement.

It is only with concerted action that we will create the broadband service that our constituents and businesses so rightly demand.”

If you would like to know more about the findings of the report, please contact the constituency office on the details listed in the contacts section