Broadband not available in village, except for BT chairman's house

 

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Posted on 1 Dec 2009 at 12:43

BT has admitted that its chairman, Sir Michael Rake, owns the only household in the village of Hambleden with broadband.

Other residents in the village on the Oxfordshire-Buckinghamshire border were told that they were unable to get broadband internet because of their distance from the exchange.

One such resident is Gary Ashworth, who runs a recruitment firm and says he has been waiting for five years for broadband. He was told by BT that it would cost an exorbitant £168,000 for a high speed internet link to his home.

Understandably, Mr Ashworth was furious when he learned that BT's chairman, who recently moved to Hambleden, had broadband internet in his home. "I really think he should resign as chairman over this.

"If I was a BT shareholder, I'd be upset that Sir Michael is using company money to pay for his broadband connection. I think one can live with it, if it's a level playing field it's not a problem. It's this preferential treatment that Sir Michael Rake has had that's upset most villagers."

BT said that its chairman had been picked for a high speed internet trial, dubbed The Broadband Extension Trial, which aims to test new broadband connections to corporate networks. A spokesperson for the telecoms giant said that the firm was sympathetic with residents, but only an employee could take part in a test like this.

"Trials of new technologies are often conducted among a company's own staff so there is nothing unusual in this situation," said the spokesperson. "BT has learnt a lot through the trial the chairman participated in and hopefully those lessons will benefit the residents of Hambleden in due course.

Paul Goodman, Tory MP for Wycombe, expressed doubt that the trial was equally open to all BT employees in the local area though. The rest of Hambleden is among an estimated 10 per cent of UK homes or businesses which are unable to get broadband speeds of at least 2Mbps. In its Digital Britain report, the government promised to provide all homes and businesses in the UK with speeds of at least 2Mbps by 2012.

"We have sympathy for the residents of Hambleden," added the BT spokesperson. "Several companies actually supply broadband from the exchange serving their village but the lines between the village and the exchange are simply too long to support a broadband service. This is a technical challenge that neither BT nor any other company has been able to overcome on a commercial basis "

The firm says that it is "working harder than anyone" to find a solution for parts of the country, such as Hambleden, which are too far from their local exchange to receive broadband. One solution was the one trialled by Sir Michael, which uses Broadband Enabling Technology - a way of delivering broadband down very long lines.

"The government has indicated that funds will be made available to help the small number of locations such as Hambleden that cannot access broadband and so BT hopes to be able to find a solution for the village with such support," concluded the spokesperson.

Author: Tim Smalley