Britain’s Broadband Blackspots and BT’s response

Brigg, Ancaster, and Grantham are all listed as broadband blackspots in research conducted by broadband comparison website Top10. All three areas in Lincolnshire expect to receive less than 2Mbps. Farningham in Kent was labelled as the worst broadband blackspot in Britain.



For the last few months, BT has been running a project which expires at the end of December to identify the country’s demand for fast broadband. More than 200,000 votes have already been cast across the UK highlighting the areas of greatest demand as BT begins its roll-out of fibre-optic technology.


Caxton in Cambridgeshire and Malvern in Worcestershire will be among the first to benefit from a "vote for fibre" scheme launched by BT as they are the first to have registered more than 1,000 votes. Despite being first though, the two may not be upgraded until early 2012, BT has stated.


The list insinuates a north/south speed divide in broadband blackspots with Farningham and the market town of Holsworthy in Devon the only locations south of London that are on a list.


The government has pledged to offer every home a minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps by 2015, three years later than the date promised by Labour.