Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, has slammed BT for keeping customers in the dark over planned upgrades to the fibre optic broadband speeds in Pattingham.
Angry Pattingham residents have contacted Gavin in light of the news that BT aren’t going to install high speed broadband in Pattingham until June of this year, without notifying residents of the delay.
Current Premium Broadband speeds experienced in Pattingham, have been flagged as the 18th worst in the UK. Other towns in the area have already been upgraded to the fibre optic premium speed of 16mbps bandwidth.
Openreach and BT websites showed the implementation of high speed fibre broadband by December 2014, with businesses and residents limited to a maximum of 8mbps bandwidth.
Gavin said: “I’m disappointed that BT didn’t bother to notify the residents of Pattingham about the delay in upgrading broadband to the premium broadband speeds and that they have to wait 6 months for a service that they already pay for. There is no excuse for broadband speeds in Pattingham to be so much lower than in other parts of the country. For too long, rural areas have failed to receive the same levels of investment and support received by more urban locations. This needs to end.
“Both local residents and businesses rely heavily on broadband daily and I have called on BT to urge them to not only follow through with their upgrades that they promised, but to keep residents informed of their progress.”