Fay Jones is pressing the Government to make broadband more widely available in her constituency.

The Brecon and Radnorshire MP asked Digital Minister Julia Lopez in the Commons what her department is doing to improve broadband and mobile phone coverage in rural areas.

She said her constituents are extremely concerned that the universal service obligation, which aims to provide decent broadband coverage, is inconsistent in rural areas.

Miss Jones said: “Constituents in Knighton have expressed their concern about some of the contribution costs, which can be in the tens of thousands of pounds, despite some properties being only a few hundred metres away from the cabinet.

“What steps is the department taking to ensure that decent and, above all, affordable broadband is being rolled out to rural areas?

“Will the minister meet me to discuss some of the thornier elements of my constituency?”

Ms Lopez said the Government are working hard to give people great connectivity whether they live in a rural, suburban or urban area.

She told Miss Jones: “We are doing this by making it easier for operators to roll out infrastructure; focusing public subsidy on connecting the hardest-to-reach areas through Project Gigabit; connecting schools and public buildings through our GigaHubs programme; and working with commercial partners on the shared rural network to tackle mobile notspots.

“I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend. I appreciate her concern about the costs that have been quoted to her constituents, and it is an issue to which the regulator Ofcom is very alive.

“Ofcom holds responsibility for setting the universal service conditions, and it recently carried out an investigation into BT’s approach to calculating excess cost.

“BT has since provided assurances on what it will do to mitigate the consumer harm identified in the Ofcom report.”

Ms Lopez said compliance with the report will be monitored and that she would be happy to meet Ms Jones to discuss the issue in greater detail.