Broadband speeds in Eastbourne '˜hurting business and tourism' says MP

She has co-signed a new report revealing there are still 5.7million people across Britain who cannot access the internet at the Ofcom required 10 Megabits per second and says that ‘more must be done to tackle it’.

The research from the British Infrastructure Group of MPs entitled ‘Broadbad’ said the number remained despite £1.7bn of taxpayers’ cash being pumped into subsidising the construction of UK high-speed broadband.

Mrs Ansell said, “The report is very clear that more investment and competition is needed to replace old fashioned copper technology with a fully fibre network, and that the BT Openreach monopoly is holding the country and Eastbourne back.

“I fully agree with this analysis and I would very much welcome an announcement from BT that it intends to do more to fill these gaps in services in Eastbourne and the many other places identified with having poor speeds.”

The report calls on the regulator Ofcom to take radical action over the ‘natural monopoly’ too long enjoyed by BT Openreach and it argues the modern economy is so reliant on the internet, it is time it was not held back by BT’s lack of ambition and underinvestment.

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