MANY residents in Surrey are still missing out on the superfast broadband revolution, a senior politician has warned.
Parts of the county still cannot receive high-speed broadband, despite the fact Surrey County Council set a target of 99 per cent of Surrey homes being able to receive fibre-based broadband by the end of this month.
Mole Valley and Tandridge are among the worst affected by the shortfalls, according to Councillor Hazel Watson, Liberal Democrat group leader on the council.
She added: "Some residents across the county are saying they are unable to receive superfast broadband at their homes despite fibre-enhanced boxes being installed.
"It is an essential service that residents need to use as part of their everyday lives to obtain information and services."
BT Openreach is currently rolling out superfast broadband across the country. New exchange boxes are being installed and fibre optic wires are being threaded along the existing copper wires to carry the superfast signal.
In September 2012, the county council announced a deal with BT to ensure 94 per cent of Surrey households would be able to achieve speeds of 15 mbps.
But Mrs Watson pointed out that if a property is 1.8 km (1.1 mile) from a fibre-enabled box, that is too far to obtain a superfast broadband service.
The broadband service to Warlingham is inconsistent, according to Jeremy Pursehouse who is a district councillor for the village.
He said: "Although plenty of green roadside boxes for the fibre network have sprung up all over the place around here in recent months, the service we get is extremely erratic."
Ryan Elger, from Ockley, says because fibre optics cannot be stretched across long distances, the plan leaves some residents in outlying areas "out in the cold".
He said: "Some people live two miles away from the cabinets and they are just being left out."
The main pockets in Mole Valley suffering superfast broadband shortfalls are Mickleham, Ockley, Headley, Shere and Ewhurst
Mrs Watson is pressing the council to review its contracts with superfast broadband operators in the county and to pinpoint gaps in superfast broadband coverage.
In response, a county council spokesman said the technology was available to get the service to outlying areas villages but the cost of doing so was prohibitive.
