Broadband – ‘hard, rural areas’ shouldn’t be left till last

A debate on the rollout of super fast broadband in rural communities is due to take place later this month.

It was secured by Northern Isles MP Alistair Carmichael, who described reliable broadband as a necessity of modern life.

“We need to ensure that the universal roll out works for all of our communities, not just the larger conurbations,” he said.

“While the roll out, so far, has seen some improvement in some areas in Orkney and Shetland, there are still many areas where there is slow or no broadband.

“The UK and Scottish Governments have invested significant amounts of money in superfast broadband rollout, but the impact of that has not met expectations. We need to get away from the idea of leaving the “hard, rural areas” until last.

“As one of my constituents put it at the last Northern Isles Digital Forum in Shetland, in her years of experience working in the NHS, if they left the difficult patients until last, then most of her patients would have died.”

The debate in the House of Commons is due to take place on Tuesday, February 21.