Residents across Selwyn are being cut off from the rest of the world and the Government doesn’t appear to be interested in doing anything about it, MP for Selwyn Nicola Grigg says.

“Poor connectivity is one of the most common issues people come to me seeking help over. Mobile and internet service is patchy across the district – and often totally dead in many places. It is hampering peoples’ ability to do business and is a major safety threat to many – which is totally unacceptable in this day and age.

“I am doing my best to push the Government for traction on further investment into infrastructure in our region and today have written to both the Minister for Digital Economy and Communications, David Clark, as well as the CEOs of the major tel-cos on behalf of residents who have reached out to me.

“I have asked the Minister to outline specific future investment and roll-out plans to improve mobile connectivity at specific addresses and have reminded the individual CEOs of the company used by the resident that the Consumer Guarantees Act states “the phone and broadband services you receive must be reliable and of an acceptable quality. If this guarantee is not met, your telecommunications retailer has an obligation to sort the problem out.”

“Given this legal obligation, I have asked each CEO to outline what actions they will take to address each resident’s mobile or internet coverage and an approximate timeline in which the resident can expect this action to take place.

“Rural communities throughout Selwyn are being left behind by a lack of digital and communications infrastructure and I’m pulling all levers I can to remedy that,” Ms Grigg says.