An MP has warned that slow broadband upgrades could take decades to complete.
Stuart Anderson MP for South Shropshire called for faster progress during a meeting in Parliament on April 14, raising concerns about the pace of delivery in the project areas.
He said: "In Parliament I was pleased to meet Broadband Minister Liz Lloyd.
"When she visited Stottesdon in March she promised that Shropshire would not be left behind in the rollout of reliable broadband.
"Yet the latest figures show that Shropshire is already being neglected.
"Only 350 connections have been built so far under Project Gigabit despite the number of contracted premises standing at 52,060 for North Herefordshire, North Wales, Shropshire and South West Wales."
Mr Anderson said the current connection rate—just over 100 properties per month—means it could take 41 years to reach the target.
He met with Broadband Minister Baroness Liz Lloyd of Effra CBE, Callum Anderson MP, and officials from Building Digital UK (BDUK) and the Digital Infrastructure Directorate of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
BDUK oversees Project Gigabit and the Shared Rural Network, which aims to improve mobile and broadband connectivity in hard-to-reach areas.
Minister Lloyd visited South Shropshire in March and met Openreach engineers in Stottesdon.
Openreach has been contracted to upgrade 52,000 properties across North Herefordshire, North Wales, Shropshire and South West Wales.
Mr Anderson argued that the slow rollout is holding back economic growth.
He also cited research from the Countryside Alliance which found that the absence of broadband infrastructure serving small firms threatens the expansion of the rural economy.
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