West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has called for extra efforts to connect the 2,500 homes and businesses still waiting for decent broadband speeds.

The MP recently met with Digital Minister to discuss plans to enhance connections across the whole of the county and to get an update on the roll out of a national scheme to guarantee download speeds of up to a gigabit for most households in the country.

West Worcestershire has had consistent challenges connecting the very rural parts of the area to superfast broadband connections, but the Superfast Worcestershire project delivered fit-for-purpose connections to nine out of ten homes and businesses.

The national £5 billion Project Gigabit is being rolled out this year allowing more broadband infrastructure providers to bid for funds to reach the areas currently excluded from getting decent broadband. This will mean that more money is available for the voucher schemes that help communities to club together to improve rural broadband connections.

And Worcestershire County Council is in discussions with a number of companies who will work on delivering ultra-high speed connections rural and urban populations over the next 18 months.

Harriett said:

“The Superfast Worcestershire broadband project did a great job rolling out the fibre network but now it will be super-charged to deliver ultra-high speeds to most homes and businesses in the county.

“My constituents who still have to work with very slow speeds are extremely frustrated that while some areas get nearly a gigabit download speed thousands of homes are still getting less than 25 megabits per second. I share their frustration.

“I met with the Digital Minister to report my concerns and I am confident that the Government is looking to focus on the not-spots as well as rolling out a full ultra-fast upgrade.

“Good broadband is now an essential for every person in the country and I will continue to work closely with the county council and national broadband providers to reach every home and business that we possibly can.”

Photo: Harriett Baldwin MP with Worcestershire County Council’s Robert Stepniewski and Gary Woodman