East Riding pressures BT over high-speed broadband services

Officials at East Riding council in Yorkshire have put pressure on major internet service provider BT to find out whether their region will benefit from high-speed broadband.

BT recently announced investment of £1.5 billion to be spent on developing next-generation broadband networks in selected parts of the UK and East Riding wants to know whether it will be part of this, reports the East Riding Mail.

The new service from BT could help deliver connection speeds as high as 100 megabits per second (Mbps), which could help maximise VoIP hardware and produce faster download speeds for homes and businesses in East Riding, many of whom need improved services.

Councillor Geoff Pickering of East Riding council told the paper: "It's vital to us as we are very much a rural authority and broadband enables businesses to operate in rural areas."

BT said details of all regions to benefit from its fibre optic networks are not currently available, but that different solutions will be considered for places that will not be included.

Virgin Media is one of BT's main rivals and has already launched a 50Mbps service.