MACCLESFIELD MP David Rutley spoke at a public meeting on Friday 20th January to discuss practical community based solutions for better broadband provision in rural communities.

The meeting, hosted in association with The Countryside Alliance, attracted people from across the Macclesfield constituency.  Attendees heard Cheshire East Council set out the work it is doing to ensure that rural communities have improved access to broadband.  While much of the constituency will benefit from superfast broadband over the next couple of years, there are many outlying, rural communities that still struggle to get good broadband coverage.  A number of local community-led solutions were reviewed, including satellite, mobile broadband and optical fibre technologies.

Jenny Amphlett, from telecoms provider 3 Mobile, updated attendees who experience poor broadband and mobile coverage.  She explained how the Spectrum programme, recently agreed with Ofcom, will lead to an increase in mobile coverage to 98% of the UK population, allowing residents to use mobile dongles on their computers and access improved broadband speed.

David will continue to work with Cheshire East Council, internet service providers and other stakeholders to help provide better broadband access for our rural communities.  One of the priorities of this work will be establishing which areas are recognised as ‘not spots,’ so that efforts can be targeted at the communities in most need.

David said: “Broadband enables people to work from home, boosting the local economy and attracting environmentally sustainable businesses to our rural communities.  I will continue to work with key stakeholders to help ensure that rural communities are not left behind in this critical area.”