MP hits at BT's box contract

Giant green computer boxes imported from China which are being installed in streets around the West Midlands could have been better made in the Black Country, an MP said today.

Chris Kelly, MP for Dudley South, criticised BT for using Chinese firm Huawei Technologies for its "green giants" as part of a £2.5 billion project to provide faster broadband internet.

The Conservative MP said Eurocraft Enclosures Ltd of Netherton, which is in his constituency, could have made the cabinets more discreet in appearance.

Huawei's cabinets reach 5ft but BT said it does not need permission to put them up. Spokeswoman Emma Tennant said today the company went through a full tendering process before settling on Huawei.

More than 40,000 properties in Fallings Park, Tettenhall, Bloxwich and Wednesbury have been switched on to BT's fibre optic broadband network. They are among the first in the UK to benefit from the company's roll-out of fibre-based broadband.

It comes after 24,000 homes and businesses across Walsall were hooked up to the high-speed network in June 2010.