Lack of '˜poor or no broadband' in rural areas '˜unacceptable'

Sinn Fein has called on BT to act after the firm said seven percent of homes and businesses in the Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon district have '˜poor or no broadband'.
Cllr Keith Haughian (Sinn Fein).Cllr Keith Haughian (Sinn Fein).
Cllr Keith Haughian (Sinn Fein).

Cllr Keith Haughian said: “Any future investment should be targeted towards ensuring that everyone has access to broadband.

“BT must address the concerns of ordinary citizens - particularly those in rural areas, those operating SMEs from home and those studying across our Borough.”

A BT spokesperson said: “The most recent Ofcom Report shows 7% of premises within the council boundary do not currently have access to speeds of 10 Mbps. BT will continue to invest, or form investment partnerships, where it makes commercial sense to do so and we are exploring solutions, such as BT Community Fibre Partnerships, which should allow some small communities, which currently have poor broadband coverage, to gain access to ultrafast speeds of 330 Mbps.”