BT share price: MP accuses telco of being slow with Suffolk fibre roll-out

BT Group Plc (LON:BT.A) is not getting superfast broadband to Suffolk as quickly as it could, according to Dan Poulter, MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. Speaking to the House of Commons yesterday, Poulter accused BT of being slow to react to requests for extra capacity and urged the government to set out how it would bring fibre to hardest to reach places in the region. He called the roll out of superfast broadband “The single most important issue facing rural Suffolk and many rural businesses and homes”.

While Poulter admitted that the fibre roll-out, which is conducted under an agreement between the government, county councils and BT, was progressing well, with 100,000 new properties due to be upgraded by this September, he expressed concerns that BT was slow to prioritise coverage in hard to reach areas.
“Suffolk has had issues with getting BT to prioritise coverage of industrial estates and business parks which are vital to the Suffolk economy,” he said, as quoted by the BBC News. “In general BT tend to ignore Suffolk’s priorities in favour of their own.” Other MPs from Suffolk shared the same view.
Culture minister Ed Vaisey agreed that BT “does have some problems with customer service” and added that the telecoms giant was slow to keep its promises and explain to customers why delays occur. However, he added that people should remember that “We cannot deliver it overnight”.
Meanwhile, the BBC News quoted a BT spokesman, who assured that the company was committed to making fibre broadband “as widely available across Suffolk as quickly as possible”.
In today’s trading, BT shares were up 0.8 percent at 466.85p, as of 11:48 BST. The stock has risen 16.3 percent since the start of the year, boosting the company’s market capitalisation to £38.9 billion.
The 18 analysts offering 12 month price targets for BT have a median target of 516.50p, with a high estimate of 600.00p and a low estimate of 355.00p.
As of 13:33 BST, Wednesday, 15 July, BT Group plc share price is 467.60p.