Small businesses hit out at BT’s broadband decision
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has lambasted BT’s refusal to upgrade rural exchanges to broadband unless enough customers pre-order the service.
At present, broadband, which facilitates high speed and high quality internet access, is available to 60% of the population through ADSL cable access. But small businesses are frustrated by the slow progress that has been made towards nationwide coverage. The FSB is also concerned that, left to the market, remote rural areas may never get broadband.
FSB IT Chairman Peter Scargill said: “We understand that BT is working remove the barriers rural businesses face with broadband connectivity particularly in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. But there will not be large numbers of people pre-ordering what they see as a lost cause. To add insult to injury for the rural businesses that are stuck with ISDN and Surftime, BT has announced that from 1st of July, Surftime will increase from £19.99 to £25.00 a month – a stunning 25% increase.”
He added: “Successive e-commerce ministers have promised that there will be universal, affordable access to broadband throughout the UK. If the government wants a ‘Broadband Britain’, ministers should consider subsidies to accelerate the rollout of a competitively-priced broadband service to all areas of the UK.”
This article was supplied by TravelMole’s sister site, accountingweb.co.uk
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