Debates between John Lamont and Ross Thomson during the 2017-2019 Parliament

Rural Communities in Scotland: Broadband

Debate between John Lamont and Ross Thomson
Wednesday 22nd November 2017

(6 years, 5 months ago)

Westminster Hall
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John Lamont Portrait John Lamont
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I am grateful to the hon. Lady for making that point. Of course, we are playing catch-up in Scotland, because of the dither and delay from the SNP Government and Digital Scotland. I will come to the Ofcom report shortly.

Ross Thomson Portrait Ross Thomson (Aberdeen South) (Con)
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The slow roll-out of superfast broadband by the Scottish Government has left my constituency with one of the slowest speeds of any urban area in the UK. For example, Blacktop in my constituency achieves only 1.5 megabits per second, which is about one 20th of what the average UK home achieves. Does my hon. Friend agree that, as Aberdeen is Europe’s energy capital, that is simply not good enough?

John Lamont Portrait John Lamont
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My hon. Friend makes a very valid point. Of course, the SNP Government have let down not just urban Scotland, but rural Scotland. Both parts of Scotland—urban and rural communities—have been let down by the Scottish Government’s failures to meet their obligations to deliver superfast broadband.