Rural Communities in Scotland: Broadband Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Colin Clark
Main Page: Colin Clark (Conservative - Gordon)Department Debates - View all Colin Clark's debates with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport
Rural Communities in Scotland: Broadband
Colin Clark Excerpts(7Â years ago)
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John Lamont
I thank the hon. Lady for that point, but the fact is that Scotland is lagging behind the rest of the United Kingdom in superfast broadband delivery. That is a failure of Digital Scotland and a failure of the Scottish Government—I suspect they have been distracted by priorities other than the delivery of broadband for the communities that we represent.
Colin Clark (Gordon) (Con)
In reply to the previous intervention, my constituency of Gordon, which is clearly a big part of Aberdeenshire, is 613th for broadband in Scotland. That is disappointing for constituents and disastrous for business. My hon. Friend mentioned alternatives. Point-to-point technology, already used by wind farms in isolated communities, is often cheaper than delivering fibre. Does he agree that that should play a bigger part in the solution?
John Lamont
My hon. Friend makes an important point. I will come on to the alternatives and self-help options, which many communities have to consider because of the failures, particularly of Openreach, to deliver to some of the harder-to-reach communities.