Suffolk County Council forces issue with BT

The Leader of Suffolk County Council has vowed to put pressure on BT to bring fibre optic broadband to more areas of the county.

At a public meeting in Battisford, the director of a scheme that aims to bring the superfast service to 85 per cent of Suffolk by the end of 2015 said he was concerned about the number of areas that could miss out.

According to BT's targets, the fibre service will only be introduced to 200,000 properties. It claims some premises - including those in Battisford - are too far away from broadband cabinets to receive an adequate connection.

However, council leader Mark Bee remained defiant, saying he and his colleagues would dig their heels in to ensure next-generation broadband would be introduced to as much of Suffolk as possible. He stressed areas like Battisford should not be ignored because of BT's commercially-motivated targets.

Mr Bee said: "We need to find out the scope of the problem. It's about finding out how many areas are in a similar position. I do not want to let BT off the hook. We are going to try and get them to do the work."