After finally running out of patience with BT Openreach and the Council we are now trying the press route to try and get some action to bring proper broadband to the area. Parts of Rosemount in Pity Me and Finchale Abbey Village have less than 1mb broadband.
A box I managed to get BT Openreach to install for Rosemount remains empty after 8 months of being installed and BT have failed in their promise that residents would have broadband by last summer. The story is on the front of today’s Durham Times, as well as in the Northern Echo.
A very senior BT Openreach manager told me last week that the reason the broadband was not installed was because they had to use all their resources to complete the Digital Durham program for the Council and that as a result their commercial program was further delayed.
A less senior employee told the Council and press that it was because of the cost of getting an electricity supply to the site, despite it being on the main road where there must be some supply available. I strongly believe that the Council could do more and also think that the government should intervene to make sure that all areas which have poor broadband should be treated equally.
We are trying to arrange a meeting with the Council head of service and the BT regional manager to try and get this concluded.
In addition we continue to fight to get improvements for Finchael Abbey Village where broadband speeds are even slower and residents ahve been told they should get Satellite broadband – which costs an arm and a leg.
Hopefully we can get both of these issues sooner rather than later for residents, despite the fact that actually it is not an issue for which councillors are responsible.
Northern Echo Story: