MPs are promising to put the ‘utmost pressure’ on Ministers to ensure BT adheres to its timetable to roll out superfast broadband to rural areas.
The pledge has come from the Conservative Member of Parliament for Bridgwater and West Somerset Ian Liddell-Grainger, who has become chair of the newly-formed all-party Rural Broadband and Mobile Technology parliamentary group.
One of the first people the group will be calling to account will be Communications Minister Ed Vaizey, who many backbenchers say should be doing far more to hold BT to its planned roll-out schedule.
MPs say BT is now months late delivering a £60 million local-authority funded scheme to bring 24Mbps superfast broadband to 90 per cent of users in Devon and Somerset by the end of 2016.
They have accused the company of instigating a deliberate go-slow so it can delay handing over its £4.5 million contribution to the programme.
On Monday the lack of adequate broadband cover in rural areas was one of the major topics raised at a meeting of the South West’s 51 Tory MPs.
And, said Mr Liddell-Grainger: “From every part of the region – and beyond - the message was the same: BT isn’t delivering.
“Thousands of people are still left with a third-rate service or even no service at all as result of the dilatory antics of a company which seems to believe that now it’s got the contract stuffed in its back pocket it can work at its own pace.
“This was not the intention: a firm timetable was set because consumers have had enough of delay and dither, but yet again BT is failing miserably.
“We shall be interested to hear from Ed Vaizey what measures he intends to take in order to crack the whip and get this programme delivered on time."