Anna Sabine MP has stated her commitment to fighting for full connectivity and mobile signal for rural villages in her constituency.

Following an appeal to residents in rural areas on their experiences with broadband and mobile connectivity, Mrs Sabine, with other MPs across Somerset, met with the minister for technology, Chris Bryant, to get some answers.

The meeting, which took place in Parliament recently, aimed to get more information on the planned roll out of Project Gigabit.

While broad targets of connectivity covering the region have been provided, there remain a lot of unknowns in terms of specifics of how many homes in the constituency will see their broadband service improved.

Rural villages face the digital transition away from analogue lines expected by 2027.

Mrs Sabine, whose Frome and East Somerset constituency includes Midsomer Norton and Radstock, informed residents in a letter sent to some affected villages, that she will await an updated map of households that will be eligible under Project Gigabit and assess the remaining gaps and is seeking a meeting with Ofcom’s OpenReach monitoring unit.

The letter reads: “Thank you very much for taking the time to get in touch with me regarding broadband and/or mobile signal in your area. Since sending out the letters I have been inundated with responses that have provided me with a very strong and clear picture of the current situation in your village and surrounding areas.

“Unfortunately, the vast majority of responses I’ve had could be summarised as: poor connection and quality, high prices to fix this and often long and complex processes for doing so.

“There are still many unknowns about how much the project will improve the broadband services to my constituents, or indeed how many households will benefit and where. The Government was unable to provide a detailed map but have promised that within the next couple of months they should have a map broken down by household to see what the situation is for each household. This will be very helpful in assisting constituents with their issues on a 1-2-1 basis in due course.

“However, I can’t see that the Government is taking any meaningful steps to improve mobile signal, and broadband and mobile don’t always go hand in hand. Lots of constituents rely on landline services given the mobile signal in their area and this needs to be fixed before the UK transitions from analogue to digital landlines by 2027.

“I am committed to keeping pressure on the Government to roll out cheaper and quicker broadband and mobile signal across Frome and East Somerset.

“As a next immediate step, I await the map of households who are eligible for gigabit-capable broadband so I can really assess the impact of Project Gigabit on your area and the remaining gaps. In March, I’ll be meeting with OpenReach’s regional director for the south west to discuss coverage of fibre broadband.

“I will of course keep you posted with this campaign following these meetings and once I receive the map from Chris Bryant’s team.”