Broadband and mobile coverage in "hard-to-reach" places

mpalmergbr

We live close to the A358 between Taunton and Illminster in Somerset and broadband speed here is dire. Just tested and it at 2.55Mb and that's before the kids (in the area) get back from school.
We have fibre in the area but the A358 is the problem. There is a 'Green Box' on the other side of the road, the council won't allow BT to dig up the road to lay a cable until April 2016 as the road has just been resurfaced and BT refuse to pipe bore under the road to run a cable through (not found the reason as yet).
My feeling is that it is not the governments fault that we suffer from poor internet speed. It is BT's monopoly on getting the network sorted out. It took no end of problems to get the telephone connected, but that is another story.
The system needs to be addressed were by each area has its needs assessed and a cost effective plan implemented and then carried out and stop the blame game.
All parties need to WORK together to get the country connected.

aughtonb4rn

Browntoa wrote: »

G-Fast is showing 300mb in live trials so it is providing fibre like speeds so not strictly true

Yes you can get 300Mbps from G-fast. Even 500 Mbps at 100m. But the drop off is very sudden so at 500m you would get only 150Mbps.
Nowhere near the 8-900 Mbps we can get download and upload on our fibre. For £30/month and no line rental.

aughtonb4rn

mpalmergbr wrote: »

We live close to the A358 between Taunton and Illminster in Somerset and broadband speed here is dire. Just tested and it at 2.55Mb and that's before the kids (in the area) get back from school.
We have fibre in the area but the A358 is the problem. There is a 'Green Box' on the other side of the road, the council won't allow BT to dig up the road to lay a cable until April 2016 as the road has just been resurfaced and BT refuse to pipe bore under the road to run a cable through (not found the reason as yet).
My feeling is that it is not the governments fault that we suffer from poor internet speed. It is BT's monopoly on getting the network sorted out. It took no end of problems to get the telephone connected, but that is another story.

The system needs to be addressed were by each area has its needs assessed and a cost effective plan implemented and then carried out and stop the blame game.
All parties need to WORK together to get the country connected.

Agree! And don't forget we're subsidising this monopoly- the government has given £1.2b to get to the hard to reach areas, and its all gone to BT (so far).

pip9star

I live in Greatstone in Kent - We can currently only gain access to fibre through Callflow who piggy back through the BT green boxes or VFAST which means you need an ariel fitted. These 2 companies have a monopoly on our area and the prices are high. BT have informed us that because Callflow is in the area they will not be able to supply fibre and this means that no other company who relies on BT to upgrade it can use fibre either.

potbelly

My request is not just for myself but for a load of friends and relatives who don't want to use broadband or mobiles to communicate with suppliers. I would request that the government force all services to still be contactable by landline phone and post. They have worked for years and it is extremely frustrating when they are not available. For example, an elderly, disabled friend has just had his electoral registration form. He has some questions he needs answering. The form offers a website, or text messaging service, or a landline that is just an automated answering service. He is 78 and considers himself too old to start learning to use new technology, nor can he justify the expense. Remember going online is not just the cost of the internet service provider, there is the cost of the computer, and the lessons to learn how to use it. Similarly with mobile phones, they are not free, they have a monthly cost. Why are we ostracising large numbers of our population by removing tried and trusted means of personal communication?

lnz

I live in rural Herefordshire, at about 2.5 miles from my nearest exchange.

When it's not raining, I do well to get 2.5Mb speed. When it's raining, it would be faster for me to walk dragging a stone. :mad:

Rumor has it that BT has installed a cabinet with fibre (still dark ATM) next to exchange, but what good will it do to us living far from the exchange when they light it?

Additionally, because of the type of ASDL provisioned on the exchange, every single ISP (except for BT and two others) apply much higher rates. My measly 2MB ADSL broadband costs twice that available 10 miles away in Hereford at 12MB (competition my foot).

I (try to) run a business, exporting British IP to the rest of the world, and I am competing with foreign firms who think nothing of uploading 10GB worth of stuff, while I need to consider whether I can try to upload 10MB.

I suspect that the obtuse, retrograde and insular attitude to infrastructure of succeding goverments (from railways to broadband) has cost my business at least 30% in revenues (with the resulting loss of tax revenues to HMRC).

I have the feeling that if the money spent to "save" the banks had been spent on infrastructure, the resulting economic growth would have been much more valuable to the UK than protecting bankers privileges.

Lnz

wmike62

I live in semi rural Shropshire. Our village has got super fast broadband, it says so on the exchange. I live 50m from the exchange. But apparently in the wrong direction. I am a BT customer. Try getting any sense from them when asking why I haven't got it or when I might! Extremely frustrating. This is infrastructure. It should be everywhere and BT etc should be made to get on with it as part of operating in this country. Time for a heavy government hand and no market forces taken into account. Oh and yes mobile signal is a bit dodgy too.

Lady_HL

As stated in many posts, who'd have thought in this day and age that such trouble is experienced trying to make a mobile phone call. On O2 the signal is shocking with 1 bar at most which is very unreliable but the out stretched signal arm coaxing an extra bar may work depending which leg i'm balancing on! But definitely NO data signal at all.

My husband is on 3 with much better signal coverage even up to full strength so it is possible but still no data, therefore broadband is essential.

As for the broadband it is advertised by Sky at 14mbs however it's usually running at 7-10mbs max. We're often pulling our hair out at a buffering movie!

Help!:eek:

Companies really need to invest in Fibre Optic broadband in rural areas, we're not in the dark ages in the sticks and want city-style coverage.

cj06morgan

I live in rural angus around 6 miles from Arbroath in Scotland. I'm forever complaining to BT about the internet I'm currently receiving. I don't even receive enough mbps to stream Netflix which requires 2mb. They just keep telling me its a line fault but they won't replace the line. This is not an isolated case as friends who live a mile away are experiencing the same issues.

7 days is how long it took for me to download GTA 5 on my xbox one!

Mobile phones offer the same problems, calling and texting has only just become possible but no mobile internet at my home address. Thank god for o2 otherwise I'd be stuffed.

Private_dancer

I live in Craven Arms, Shropshire, the mobile reception in this whole area is awful, I use EE (ORANGE) but friends with 3, Vodafone or O2 get no signal, I used to have a Tesco mobile phone as well but this was useless. My broadband is hit and miss, but usually not too bad, my son lives just 8 miles away and cannot get broadband via landline at all, he has had to pay for a satellite dish.