Broadband speeds in the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency are the second poorest in the UK, it has been claimed,
A survey from the House of Commons Library indicates that 66 per cent of the seat is ill-equipped to receive speeds of up to 10 Megabits per second (Mbps), the minimum required to usefully access the likes of on-line banking or shopping websites.
Only Carmarthen East, in Wales, fares worse.
Local SNP MP Ian Blackford said "This has already created problems for people on the Universal Credit, benefits which requires claimants to use their website to make claims, fill in journals and keep their records up to date. Even more users will be adversely affected by poor internet connection when it rolls out across Ross, Skye & Lochaber from July."
But BT deny this saying that as of today over 60 per cent of homes and businesses in the Ross, Skye and Lochaber area are receiving superfast broadband.
Mr Blackford said the survey he was quoting was based on analysis of Ofcom’s postcode-level open data the information collected from major fixed telecoms operators (BT, Virgin Media, Sky, Talk Talk, Vodafone and KCOM). It also included coverage information provided by alternative network providers.
He said: “I have been in regular contact with senior BT officials for some time to remedy what constituents have been telling me on the issue of connectivity, or lack of it.
“A strong and fast internet connection is more important than ever to people throughout this constituency, especially in more remote areas with poor or no public transport links and those trying to run a business or access the new Universal Credit website.We must find a solution to this situation as soon as possible”.
But BT said that the respected industry website 'thinkbroadband', which was used by bodies such as Audit Scotland, showed 60.33 per cent of the constituency was receiving superfast speeds. He said figures could become out of date very quickly.
A spokesman for Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), which along with Digital Scotland is rolling out a fibre network across the Highlands and Islands, said. “Around 60 per cent of homes and businesses in the Ross, Skye and Lochaber area are already able to receive superfast broadband at speeds greater than 24mbps, including Dunvegan, Kinlochleven, Lochcarron, Kyle and many more. There will be further roll out during 2017."
But there is no doubt that some places in the constituency are still poorly served.
Alison Grieve, who runs the Loch Leven Seafood a cafe on the north side of Loch Leven, said broadband speeds could be “horrendously slow”.
"I have just been apologising to my staff as I have only just managed to pay their wages, and I had to go home too my house to do it, as I have had no internet here for two days. I live not far away and the speeds there are very slow, but it doesn't go down. When it is working the speed is so slow and makes things like banking very difficult."
She said the village of Kinlochleven, along the road did have superfast broadband, "but they are not prepared to extend the fibre optic here. It is getting really difficult to run the business."
She said there were a lot of companies around Glencoe looking to get a satellite solution, but it would be expensive.
Meanwhile the Scottish Government has pledged to ensure the whole of Scotland has superfast broadband in the next five years.
The Government's new digital strategy also aims to double the number of digital jobs to 150,000 by 2021, and develop "world-leading" resilience against cyber-attack.
Launching the strategy during a visit in Glasgow, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said: "Digital is transforming the way we live. It is connecting us faster than ever before while putting more power into the hands of service users."
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