THAME’s MP, John Howell, has taken on the challenge of improving the low Broadband speeds that many areas of the Henley constituency have to put up with.
A study by the Independent Networks Cooperative Association earlier in the summer showed that the Henley constituency (which now runs from the edge of Bicester to the edge of Reading) was likely to be at best only partially served by Next Generation Broadband (http://www.inca.coop/NGA-map).
?The broadband revolution has forgotten too many of our villages. Speeds are so slow that they are practically unusable. It?s a problem for many in the constituency. Those wanting to work from home and businesses in a rural area like ours find it difficult. Those that are ill may not be able to get on-line healthcare information. Students often cannot do research for homework and it is cutting people off from the social networking broadband can bring,? said John Howell today.
?More and more villages in the constituency are asking ? why us? Local groups of businesspeople are approaching me to point out how much more dynamic our local communities could be if the problem of superfast broadband was tackled,? he continued.
The MP has already held talks with BT to understand the work they are undertaking to ensure the constituency is covered. He has also raised with the county council the possibility of villages being able to use the broadband networks which are associated with village schools and remain unused out of school hours and for large stretches of school holidays.
Discussions with BT have focused on the cost of providing the ?extra mile? cabling between the schools and individual houses. This follows proposals around the country to open up fibre optic links used by many local authorities and services.
To take this forward, the MP says that he has identified six steps:
Identify the examples of how this problem has been solved in other areas (see notes to editors)
Keep the pressure up on BT as a key provider to tackle the problem in the constituency as quickly as possible
Work with other providers to facilitate solutions for the area
Work with local Parish Councils to identify the not-spots in the constituency and to identify the market for the use of fibre optic cables in local authority facilities such as schools
Work with the County Council to encourage the use of school facilities
Work with James Elles MEP, on the associated problem of mobile broadband
The MP pointed to DEFRA information that one third of all farmers have no internet access and yet it is increasingly assumed they will file their forms for payment online. It is also a major disadvantage to those without access who cannot download information on weather, disease patterns and market prices ? all essential tools of the industry.
John pointed out that the Government?s strategy aims to make us the first country in Europe to extend superfast 100 Mbps broadband across most of the population. There are four broad components of the strategy:
to roll out a broadband service level of at least 2Megabits to those parts of the country still without basic access by 2015
to establish three superfast broadband pilots in rural areas
to open up and co-ordinate our existing infrastructure to bring down the costs of laying new fibre by opening up BT?s ducts to competitors, easing planning rules and boosting competition to encourage a market led solution.
where necessary, to make sure rural areas have access to this new infrastructure, it will use the element of the television licence fee used for digital switchover, stimulating investment in next generation networks.
BT is already spending