Welsh: Remote Communities Deserve Full-Speed Broadband, Not Excuses

Steve Welsh has made extending reliable broadband and mobile coverage to the most remote communities in the constituency a key campaign priority, arguing that digital connectivity is now as fundamental to rural life as the road network. Communities in the west of the constituency — along Wester Ross, in Sutherland's remote glens, and in the more isolated parts of Caithness — continue to experience unreliable or non-existent broadband and significant mobile coverage gaps, placing them at a severe disadvantage for remote working, business operations, and access to public services. 'There are crofters in Sutherland who are running businesses, filing tax returns, and managing land without reliable internet access,' said Mr Welsh. 'There are families in Wester Ross whose children are doing homework by phone hotspot because there is no broadband. This is 2025 and it is not acceptable.' He called for ring-fenced rural connectivity funding specifically for the most isolated communities in the Far North, delivered through a combination of fibre extension, fixed wireless, and satellite technology as appropriate to individual locations. He also called for a mobile coverage obligation on network operators covering key road routes including the A9, A835, and A99. 'Reform UK will deliver full connectivity to every community in this constituency. No exceptions, no excuses.'