WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Harriett Baldwin has today welcomed news that Ofcom is reviewing the work carried out by BT’s Openreach division which controls the superfast broadband network across most of the county.
Ofcom today released a report into the role of Openreach and pledged to work towards a solution which will open up the network to more competition.
The work of Openreach has come in for much criticism over recent years as it rolls out the superfast broadband network across the county. Today’s report confirms that the regulator is consulting on solutions which will increase competition in sector.
Harriett commented: “Overall, Worcestershire’s roll out programme has helped to get nine out of ten people onto superfast broadband connections but in rural West Worcestershire we need to ensure that we get to full coverage of this vital 21st century infrastructure."
“I fully welcome these efforts to open up the network to encourage other providers to deliver their own broadband products directly to the premises.
“I will be studying the Ofcom report in detail and encourage those people who currently don’t benefit from any superfast broadband connection to make sure they feed back to Superfast Worcestershire in the consultation process.
“I also hope that BT and the other providers will seek solutions to delivering our hard-to-reach areas before pressing ahead with ultrafast broadband roll-out.
“Those people who still suffer from 1990s dial up modem connections are getting increasingly angry with this two-tier approach to internet connectivity