BT BROADBAND WOES
Despite all the spin coming from BT about high speed internet it is still failing to deliver for rural areas of Shropshire. That is the conclusion reached by rural campaigner Cllr Heather Kidd after a number of recent incidents that demonstrated this shortfall.
“I’ve been campaigning for a number of years” said Heather (Shropshire Councillor for Chirbury and Worthen)”to get both BT and the Council to give the commitment to give us proper high speed broadband. Businesses and individuals, if anything, rely on the internet more in country areas than those in towns.
“However we are still given an indifferent, second rate service. Take for instance what is happening to two Marton residents. Emma Pryce and her partner applied for broadband with BT in May. The phone line was put in but then the activation date for the broadband kept on being put off. On Friday they received a phone call from BT to say that they can not have broadband in our home until somebody cancels theirs or they can update the exchange, but that will not be until the end of next year. This is because the exchange in Chirbury is full
“I’ve been campaigning to get this exchanged upgraded for years! Its not on, we have to pay the same charges as everyone else only to get this sort of service. This lady is a full time teaching assistant and doing a part time university course to become a teacher is having to travel back and forth to Welshpool to use her mum’s internet.
” I have people all over the Chirbury and Worthen Division from Pentervin to Stiperstones and Brompton finding it difficult or impossible to receive Broadband. But this takes the biscuit. Emma lives in a village where she should be able to get Broadband. From long experience with BT you have to go the top to get results and I have contacted Ian Livingston who is the CEO BT Group. Hopefully he can get something moving!”
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