Montgomeryshire internet speed is 'one of worst' in the country

The area came in at 645 for "Fixed Broadband Speed by Parliamentary Constituency" in the House of Commons Library report, with a speed of just 7.7 mb/s compared to the top figure of 36.1 mb/s in Bristol South.

There are only five constituencies with a worse speed, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, Argyll and Bute, Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire, and Ceredigion.

The report also stated that only one per cent of homes were able to access superfast broadband.

But Montgomeryshire Assembly Member Russell George said he was satisfied with the progress being made in Mid Wales.

He said: "The report appears to use Ofcom data from June 2014 and while this may have been the situation at the time, the Superfast Cymru project has made good progress in rolling out superfast broadband to Montgomeryshire over the last eight months. This report doesn't appear to adequately reflect this fact.

"I am in regular contact with the BT team and my latest understanding is that superfast broadband is currently available to about a third of the 30,000 premises in Montgomeryshire with further work to roll out superfast broadband to more rural areas in the pipeline.

Both our MP, Glyn Davies, and I have been involved with BT and the Superfast Cymru project from its very inception. We will continue to scrutinise the Welsh Government where appropriate and will continue to be a critical friend of the Superfast Cymru project to ensure that Montgomeryshire gets the best possible connectivity to support our local economy in the digital age."

However, Jane Dodds, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Montgomeryshire, described the figures as "appalling".

She said: "This report demonstrates just how far we are lagging behind on broadband coverage locally. On top of that, 16 per cent of Montgomeryshire has speeds of less than 2mps. This is truly appalling and seriously holding our businesses back."