Letter: BT offer insults our intelligence

BRENDAN Dick, director of BT Scotland, went to great lengths to describe the process BT are using to decide which five exchanges in the UK will be upgraded to "super-fast fibre optic broadband" (Letters, 7 November).

In reality this is standard fibre optic broadband, it just appears super-fast compared to our current copper wire system which should have been upgraded to fibre optic a decade ago. It is not just BT's infrastructure which is outdated – their method of choosing where to install fibre optic connections is an archaic insult to our intelligence. We must vote for it in something akin to a TV talent competition. Will Bruce Forsyth be drafted in to announce the five winning exchanges?

A modern telecommunications infrastructure is too important to leave to the whims of commercial bodies who don't know if they are running a business or a games show.

Our politicians must take the lead and set deadlines for upgrading the whole UK telephone network to a fibre optic system.

John F Robins, Dumbarton