Leeds campaign leads to fibre optic broadband upgrade

A campaign that was launched in Leeds to improve broadband speeds has led to BT upgrading two street cabinets.

Residents who live near exchanges in the Middleton and New Forest Village areas of the city had complained to the service provider about speeds as low as 1.3Mbps, well below the national average of 14.7Mbps, as stated by Ofcom.

A local homeowner who lives on an estate close to one of the exchanges spoke to the BBC about the issues that led to the launch of the campaign in February 2012. He explained that it took a number of attempts before residents received a response from BT, but once they did the upgrade was carried out relatively quickly.

Mr Thomas said: "I do see BT's point of view - they have to make money. But at the same time I think you can make a case for decent broadband being an essential utility."

BT has estimated that its rollout project will bring superfast speeds to 90 per cent of the city in the next two years.