There has been as lot of smoke generated by Connecting Shropshire in recent months but not very much light about how effective this upgrade will be. Its great that these exchanges are being upgraded. The broadband speeds in Chirbury, where I live, are awful. However, I have been told that this upgrade will only benefit homes within a 1.2km radius of the cabinets. That will leave several villages – Priest Weston and Marton without proper broadband plus a large number of farms and hamlets. They have also failed to be specific even about the major settlements
In this day and age this is just not good enough. A modern economy cant get by without proper broad band – businesses cant take card payments or upgrade their websites. Even farms need it to register stock and make grant applications. Likewise local residents need broadband to pat bills and even register your child for school. There is a real danger here of many rural areas being left behind if we don’t make out voices heard.
I will be lobbying both Connecting Shropshire and Shropshire Council for great clarity on what and when will be delivered. I amalso pressing the extra £7m awarded by the Government the other week to improve broadband be directed towards rural areas without a decent service at present.
Heather
Notes:
Work started this week preparing the main fibre spines that feed the Chirbury Exchange area involving excavations along the Chirbury – Worthen Road.