Rural Areas Need Broadband

Broadband internet access allows high download speeds and provides internet access and phone calls on the same line at the same time. Rural areas have a variety of technical problems that have prevented many people who want broadband from being able to access it. I am campaigning for broadband of speeds of 512 kbits/s to be made available in all areas.

In many rural areas the phone lines themselves are a problem, with many lines in a state of bad repair and physically incapable of carrying a broadband signal. Also, the distances between people’s homes and their nearest exchange are often too great for broadband to work. This has been made worse by rural phone exchanges being uneconomical to upgrade to enable them to transmit broadband. Money has now been made available to upgrade the remaining exchanges and this problem should be resolved by the end of the year. I am monitoring the progress of the upgrades.

I have been campaigning for broadband to be made available in all rural areas because I believe that it is even more important to rural communities to have access to high speed internet connections than other communities. In places which are remote high speed internet can overcome the problems of distance and allow businesses to maintain communications with clients over large areas. Broadband is therefore extremely important for the diversification of the economy in rural areas. Many rural areas also suffer from a poor phone service and high speed internet connections would overcome these communication problems. Second generation high speed broadband is being introduced in urban areas while rural areas are struggling to get a basic service. I believe that broadband access should be universally available so that rural communities are not left behind or denied the possibilities for business and recreation enjoyed by urban residents.

During this campaign I have given a speech in Parliament about the need for broadband to be available in rural areas and the poor quality of communications currently available to many people in isolated locations. I have also had meetings with BT about the quality of service in remote communities and the mechanisms BT have put in place to upgrade telephone exchanges and improve the quality of phone lines in rural areas. I will be meeting with BT on a regular basis to check their progress towards upgrading all the remaining exchanges in Wales and improving phone lines.

I recommend that anyone who wants to get access to broadband should register with an internet service provider because even if your phone line cannot support broadband your request will be logged and used as evidence of demand, which could speed up the process of bringing broadband to your area. If your internet service provider claims that your phone line will not support broadband make sure that they have checked directly with BT Wholesale rather than just checked the computer database because the database can be incorrect. In Wales you can also register your problems with the Broadband Wales Observatory by following the link below. This collects data on broadband blackspots which BT then uses to focus their efforts to upgrade the lines.

Associated links

Click here to read my speech about broadband in rural areas ».
 
Click here to read the debate on broadband in rural areas ».
 
Click here for the Broadband Wales Observatory website ».
 

Publish date: 10th May 2006
Modified: 10th May 2006

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