Slow broadband blights one in 8 new homes

THOUSANDS of new homes are being built without decent broadband connections.

One in eight new properties has speeds so slow they fall below the Government’s minimum requirement – and four in ten are built without fibre optic cables, according to advice website Thinkbroadband.

The problem has been blamed on developers who do not want to pay for costly infrastructure, with some estates hooked up instead to old-fashioned copper wires. MPs said it was unacceptable for families in new homes to be saddled with poor broadband.

Tory MP Grant Shapps, chairman of the British Infrastructure Group, said: ‘People deserve and need good broadband to be able to work from home and use all the services the internet provides. It’s time to stop treating this like an optional extra.’ And Sir Vince Cable, leader of the Liberal Democrats said: ‘Internet connectivity is fundamental to people who work from home – and in a modern economy it is not just a luxury but a necessity.’

Last year, the Government vowed to introduce a ‘universal service obligation’ by 2020, giving all households a legal right to request an internet connection of ten megabits per second – fast enough to download a highdefinition film in just over 20 minutes. A Government spokesman said last night: ‘Too many homes are built with slow, or no, connections. This needs to change.’

Openreach, the cables arm of BT, has been criticised for dithering over upgrades to the broadband network. But the company has made it easier for developers by offering to pay more of the costs of fibre optics – however, many homes were started before the scheme was introduced.