Progress on broadband

Some years ago one of the big issues in my postbag was the lack of broadband internet access across the constituency. When telephone exchanges were initially 'broadband-enabled' it tended to be the big centres of population that were upgraded first, which in our area meant the Yate/Sodbury exchange and the Almondsbury exchange which served Aztec West etc. Even towns the size of Thornbury were down the queue.

A change of heart at BT led to them launching a scheme whereby people could register their interest in broadband and once an exchange had reached a 'trigger point' of interested local residents it would be upgraded. Eventually all the local exchanges were upgraded in this way.

However, there are still pockets where it is not possible to get broadband, especially where houses are simply a very long way away from the exchange. One area that has been having problems was the rural area around Hill and Nupdown, and residents (notably Thomas Jenner-Fust - pictured) had been pressing BT for action for a long while. I got involved earlier this year alongside the residents and we were delighted when BT promised a sizeable sum (running into hundreds of thousands of pounds) to improve the local network in the area in order to remove the barriers to broadband.

To their credit, last Thursday evening (Nov 29) BT sent no fewer than four senior people to come to a packed meeting at Hill village hall (though it is a small hall!) to explain exactly what they would be doing and when, and to answer residents' questions. If everything goes smoothly it should be the case that by late Spring / early Summer households in the area will finally be able to get on to broadband.

Mind you, I'm already hearing that the 'next generation' of high-speed broadband is starting to be rolled out (including in some other countries) and I have a slight feeling of deja vu about lobbying to get our area upgraded fast...