Kent Village Residents suffer 0.1mbps BT speeds - Rural Broadband

Broadband service in some rural areas of east Kent is "shameful", according to an MP.

MP Charlie Elphicke, representative for Dover and Deal, this week welcomed a commitment to improve broadband after constituents in villages like Lydden and Temple Ewell revealed they get internet speeds of less than two megabytes per second – ten times slower than parts of Dover town.

The Conservative joined Lydden ward Dover District Councillor Mark Rose to speak with furious business owners and villagers, who have repeatedly called on Kent County Council and BT to improve broadband speeds. "These days the internet plays such an important role in people’s lives, yet the service in some of our rural areas is shameful," Mr Elphicke said.

"In order for small businesses in the regions to thrive, we must have better broadband. These excruciatingly slow speeds make a mockery of modern Britain."

KCC says a street cabinet with new fibres will be installed in Canterbury Road, Lydden, on the southern edge of Chunnel Plant Hire’s depot.

According to the Kent County Council authority, roll out work will begin soon and finish by September this year. this is the third time dates have been proposed and then moved. Pressure from Both MP and Dover DDC Lydden and temple Ewell Councillor Mark Rose have recently been assured of

"We must not see any more delays," the MP added.

"I will be pressing KCC and BT to stick to their timeframe."

Cllr Rose said: "The people of Lydden and Temple Ewell deserve better.

"They are paying premium service charges and have been fobbed off endlessly.

"No One can access so called 'reactive' online County Council services as the speeds will not generate report forms or create case reports" the so called BDUK roll out program repeatedly claim Kent speeds are fit for purpose at 2mbps for the last 10 years, however it is blatantly clear from all the resident speed data feeding back to myself this poor benchmark is simply not the case".

"It is a disgrace in the 2017 many rural local Kent children cannot access their online homework – their parents cannot choose any flexible schedules to work at home, the speeds could not download many reports or multimedia emails

"Online gaming and other multimedia are not even options. Residents need the roll-out pushed forward urgently.

Mr Elphicke is the second Kent MP in a week to call for improved connectivity after fellow Tory Tom Tugendhat welcomed the chancellor’s investment in digital infrastructure in his budget to MPs.

The Tonbridge and Malling MP said in the House of Commons: "It seems quite absurd that I could get 3G and 4G signals very easily in Kabul and Khartoum, but that, in Kent, getting a phone call at all is pretty tricky."

A BT spokesperson said: "Parts of Lydden and Temple Ewell already have superfast broadband provided through BT’s investment and Kent County Council’s Making Kent Quicker programme, the remaining areas in these villages are due to be enabled later this year.

"BT and Kent County Council are in discussion with District and Lydden Parish Councils to confirm the final details of the fibre broadband roll out."

Keywords:
Charlie Elphicke, Mark Rose, Dover District Council, Dover, Kent County Council, Lydden, Temple Ewell, House of Commons,Tonbridge and Malling, Kent County, UK, Telecoms, Broadband, DCMS, BDUK, Broadband roll out, Openreach, BT, Telecommunications, Local Government, SKY, VirginMedia, BBC southeast,


Overview - Cllr Rose
Cllr Mark Rose is the elected District councillor for the large rural wards of Lydden and Historic Temple Ewell - c.772, both villages are based within a Kent wildlife and farming area of natural outstanding beauty (AONB). Cllr Rose has been pushing for many issues to be managed in the AONB area such as the destructive blight of illegal HGV parking recently removed from Lydden Hill, litter and general environmental crimes being reported or cleared and more recently infrastructure issues such as broadband, telecommunications, planning and roads. He is mainly concerned with bringing forward devolved powers and increased local funded services and further protecting the village community and resident interests.
Cllr Rose also sits on Dover Council Scrutiny Committee, Planning, Licencing and is the DDC Digital Technology lead member.



ENDS



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