Village broadband service not what it seems

This was completed in September 2013 and Openreach say residents and businesses can now place orders. However, when trying to order fibre broadband, it seems the location of your premises is the key to this service – not just the postcode, but the actual phone line. If it’s connected direct to the exchange, as most of the local businesses in Chatburn are due to the size of the village, then no date is available for this service.

Lancashire County Council have been quick to trumpet the fact this will create up to 2,500 new local jobs and have spent £4.7m., but if it is impossible for a business to determine if and when high speed broadband is available to the actual premises, not just to the local exchange, then no business will take the risk when relocating.

Rural businesses planning start-up or relocation need certainty about this essential service, not “this year, next year, sometime, never”, from Openreach and BT.

David Parkinson

Old Road, Chatburn