William Wragg MP has welcomed the announcement by the Prime Minister that the Government intends to introduce a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband providers, due to come in by 2020.
The USO will give people a legal right to request an affordable connection to broadband of a minimum specified speed, from a designated provider, no matter where they live, up to a reasonable cost threshold.
The Government will hold a consultation over the next few months on what should be the appropriate speed for the USO. However, Ofcom believes that 10Mbps is sufficient at present for typical UK households and small businesses.
William Wragg, the MP for the Hazel Grove constituency has long been campaigning for better internet and broadband to be brought to rural areas. He said:
“Constituencies like mine with a mixture of urban and rural areas often suffer from patches of poor internet service and are sometime times overlooked by providers or because the cost of the necessary infrastructure is too great. This is particularly the case in communities such as Strines and Mellor, along with others. The numbers of people living in these areas may not be huge, but for them this is a vital issue as many people now see broadband as a basic service similar to the post and telephone.
“I welcome this new broadband Service Obligation. As the country makes great strides towards better connectivity a USO will help to ensure that people in harder to reach areas are not left behind - it will be targeted at these hard to reach areas. Once the 10Mbps obligation has been implemented, we should then look to increase the speed in line with increased take-up across the country. ”
William, who is a former primary school teacher, added “A good quality internet connection can also make a wealth of difference in schools, opening up an ever increasing amount of information to pupils to the real benefit of their education.”
However in addition to welcoming the broadband USO, William has added his name to an open letter to the Chancellor, written by Conservative Colleagues, Matt Warman MP and Ian Liddell-Grainger MP, who are co-chairs of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Broadband and Digital Communication, which highlights the importance of investing in broadband infrastructure as part of the Spending Review.
William said “I have urged the Treasury to consider the importance of continued state investment in both mobile and fixed broadband infrastructure as part of the Spending Review, so that the digital divide does not widen and deepen, and so that we can provide the same digital opportunities to everyone in the UK, regardless of where they live.”