A FERNDOWN business owner has slammed BT after claiming industrial estates are being “deprived” of superfast broadband.

Brian Frost, the managing director of Applied Relay Testing on the Ferndown Industrial Estate, says he is able to get BT Infinity in his home.

However, although his business is a similar distance away from the same exchange, there seems to be no sign of the speedy service on the estate, and he fears councils may be forced to pay up to provide it.

The arrival of BT Infinity to the Ferndown area around a year ago was initially hailed by many residents as a major boost.

Although most homes now have access to the service, the industrial estate is in a “black spot” – a situation which appears to exist across estates nationally.

Mr Frost said: “I feel that this could be a cynical action.

“I cannot see any technical reason why they should not be providing this broadband, so it seems that there must be a commercial drive. It feels as if they are holding a locality, and its business owners, to ransom.”

Applied Relay Testing currently has a high speed broadband connection of six megabits per second.

However, Mr Frost said BT internet is around 20 times as fast, and the lack of connection has a big impact on businesses.

The businessman said he believes the decision was made by BT on “commercial grounds”.

He said: “I have found a website which shows me a map on the area with a slider control to set the speed you wish to investigate.

“There are no high-speed connections on the industrial estates, which the map makes look like North Korea at night – all black – whilst the shiny, brilliantly-lit areas take the profits and growth.”