MP reflects on progress on roll-out of broadband

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the Conservative MP for Berwick, has continued to lobby Openreach regarding the delivery schedule for its commercial fibre programme.

She has received assurances that the provision of broadband remains its primary focus and that it is on target for the roll-out in Alnwick and Berwick, with 14,053 premises set to be connected by the end of the year.

To date, Openreach has delivered fibre to 12,611 of the planned premises and is on its way to meeting its commitment to the remaining 1,442 premises. There are six cabinets, four of which are in Alnwick, waiting to be upgraded and Openreach is committed to seeing these delivered by December.

Of the 25,673 properties in the constituency to be covered by the close of its current BDUK contract in December 2018, 24,385 are already done.

Mrs Trevelyan said: “It is very promising to see progress being made on the commercial fibre programme following years of hard work and intensive lobbying that we have undertaken as a community. Openreach has told me its is on target to deliver its commitments to Alnwick and Berwick by December 2017 and I will be working hard to ensure this target is met.”

On the subsidised BDUK programme for rural areas, she added: “This is good news for people in our patch who need and rely on this crucial service. We are working tirelessly to ensure that rural areas receive the same treatment as other parts of the country and this will go some way to support our precious rural communities. I will be continuing to lobby hard for improvements and I urge anyone who is not seeing the benefits promised to contact me immediately and I will raise the matter with Openreach.”