Jo Churchill MP is boosting her campaign for better broadband in Suffolk and across her Bury St Edmunds constituency.
Elected on a local manifesto seeking quality broadband and mobile access for residents and businesses, Jo Churchill is pushing ahead with her pledge.
Discussing why this issue is so important, Jo Churchill said: “Without a doubt, broadband and mobile connectivity is the fourth utility in our homes, with more of our goods, services and lifestyle available online.
For rural areas with limited connectivity, broadband access is even more important and yet, owing to rural sparsity, a much greater challenge to deliver.”
Currently, the Bury St Edmunds constituency has only 80% superfast coverage, leaving around 10,000 households without sufficient connectivity and, for some areas, little or no broadband access at all.
In particular, five wards in the Bury St Edmunds constituency – Ringhshall, Stowupland, Rattlesden, Rougham and Rickinghall and Walsham – are rated in the lowest 10% of wards for their average download speeds in the UK.
“A significant proportion of correspondence from constituents concerns their broadband connectivity; many struggling to access broadband speeds which can allow them to pay an online bill, let alone for work or entertainment.
We’ve even had cases where businesses cannot conduct a simple email exchange. This is not the sort of situation we want nor the sort of message we want to be sending, or rather unable to send!”
That is why Mrs Churchill is contacting constituents in areas most affected by poor connectivity, to ask about their experience, online usage as well as their access to other helpful services.
“Mobile and broadband usage can differ vastly even within a single household. Gathering first-hand information of the very real impact on residents, will add huge value to this campaign and drive our case forward.”