Many people in Fife are being forced to endure broadband speeds slower than in some “Third World” countries, it has been claimed.
MSP Murdo Fraser this week claimed business growth in Fife is being stunted by poor broadband connections and people in rural areas have backed him.
Peter Holmes, 57, who lives at Ryelaw Farm in Leslie, said residents have been subjected to a broadband speed of between 0.4 and 0.8MB, well short of the 24MB superfast broadband target.
And it was only last week his family had their service restored after two-and-a-half months because of a line fault.
He said: “According to the engineers when they come, our line is slow because of the distance from the exchange and the line is made from aluminium.
“The line engineers seem to doubt the fact that we will ever get broadband speeds in excess of 3MB never mind superfast broadband, although I suppose 3MB is superfast compared to what I’m getting at the moment.
“There must be many people in Scotland suffering unacceptable broadband speeds with little hope of ever getting a greater speed.
“Many countries throughout the world that are referred to as ‘Third World’ have faster speeds than we do, so it makes you wonder.
“When you talk to the engineers about upgrading, they just laugh. It’s a complete and utter nightmare.
“We’re not asking for a lot, we’re just asking for a decent line.”
The Scottish Government says the digital Scotland superfast broadband programme is making “excellent progress”, with 98.4% of premises in Fife expected to have access by March.
A BT spokesman said: “All copper lines are subject to the laws of physics, which means that broadband signal deteriorates after a certain distance.
“BT is committed to working with customers to put things right if speeds fall below the estimated range we provide at point of sale and we’ve contacted Mr Holmes, who hadn’t reported a fault, so that we can help him get the best speed possible on his line.
“We’re still in the process of rolling out high-speed fibre broadband across Scotland … more than 100,000 homes and businesses can order fibre broadband across Fife and a further 38,000 lines have been connected through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband partnership.
“Engineers have carefully planned the rollout to reach the most people possible with the budget available.
“New locations are announced each quarter with work ongoing across Fife.
“We understand the impatience for progress to be even faster, but improving broadband involves complex and expensive national engineering contending with all manner of physical and geographic challenges.”