One of the things that is raised the most with me by
residents from across our constituency are the difficulties that many people
have in accessing good quality fast and reliable broadband service for their
homes and businesses.
When I raise issues such as these on behalf of constituents,
the body I have to go to is called Openreach, the division of BT that maintains
the UK’s largest phone and broadband network on behalf of competing providers.
Sadly, I often find that the answers and solutions I get to these enquiries are
not at all helpful in terms of achieving a solution, particularly for our rural
areas.
I believe that BT’s relationship with Openreach is unhealthy
in terms of achieving innovative and common sense solutions. One way to achieve
better solutions and service for all would be to open up the market and
encourage competition by moving BT and Openreach apart.
With this in mind, earlier this year, I co-signed a report calling on Ofcom to take
radical action over the ‘natural monopoly’ too long enjoyed by BT Openreach.
In 2016 people
rightly expect access to high-speed internet connections. Whether at home or
work, fast broadband should be a reality in all our communities. Sadly, this is
not yet the case. In Mid-Cornwall people are dealing with some really poor
connections and gaps in services. In fact St Austell and Newquay falls into the
bottom 30% of seats for the availability of superfast connections, and Cornwall
itself gets a speed below the 10mb per second Ofcom say everyone should
have.
Last week, then, I was pleased to see Ofcom release
recommendations that BT change its working relationship with Openreach.
In some of the highlights of their review ‘Making Communications Work for Everyone’,
Ofcom concluded that BT must open up
their network, so competitors can connect fibre to homes and offices, Openreach must be reformed to better serve UK
consumers and businesses and that better quality of service needs to provided for all customers, including
automatic compensation.
Openreach needs to take its own decisions on budget,
investment and strategy - such as the deployment of new networks and therefore I
particularly welcome Ofcom’s decision to overhaul Openreach’s governance and
strengthen its independence from BT going forward,
I look forward to Ofcom’s detailed proposals that will be
released later this year to implement these changes. This report’s outcome is a
good step in the right direction and one that I hope will pave the way for a
more competitive marketplace and the increase in customer service that will
result. There is still more work to be done and I will continue to watch the
situation closely to ensure the people of Mid-Cornwall get the level of service
we need.
I will be meeting with concerned businesses in some of our
worst affected areas to discuss ways forward whether that be working with
Openreach, or pursuing other lines of action. If you have encountered any
issues with your home or business then please do get in touch with my office
via the details below and I will be more than happy to add your details to my
continuing work in this area.
I also hold regular constituency advice surgeries across Mid-Cornwall
in which you can bring up issues like this, or anything else where you need to
know my opinion with something or believe I can be of assistance in any way. My
next surgeries with free appointments across the constituency are on 12 and 19
March, and you are welcome to contact my office to book a slot. Further surgery
dates can be found on my website.
My team and I are
here to serve the whole constituency and seek to make a real difference to the
lives of everyone who needs help and support in any way. If there is any issue that we can help you
with then please contact us on either 01726 829379 or at office@stevedouble.org.uk.
