My constituents from across the Kintyre and Islands ward have been in regular contact with me about their justifiable concerns about internet connectivity in our more isolated areas.

Average UK broadband speeds have largely held up during the Covid-19 lockdown despite rising demand from home working, online lessons and TV streaming. However broadband speeds in rural areas still lag behind those in urban areas. Urban peak-time speeds reached 75 Mbit/s, almost double the rural average of 39 Mbit/s last year.

Here in Argyll and Bute speeds can be even slower with the additional demands on the broadband network which have been driven in part by home working and by school closures, leading to a rise in people using streaming and educational services.

Some providers have reported an increase in weekday daytime traffic of between 35 and 60% since the Coronavirus restrictions came in place especially when our villages average speeds can drop to an unmanageably slow rate.

As long as people are forced to work from home as a result of the Coronavirus then fit for purpose broadband speeds are a must. Both central government and our providers must do all that they can to ensure that large swathes of our rural constituency are not sidelined when it comes to vital digital connectivity.

Cllr Alastair Redman - Kintyre and Islands ward