Several parishioners have complained about poor broadband performance at their properties and the inability of their providers to address the problem for them. I wrote to our MP, Ben Goldsborough, who replied that they are not alone in South Norfolk. He suggested that those with an issue should contact him (contact details: https://www.wreningham.org.uk/wreningham-parish-council/).
On the wider topic of Fibre Broadband provision, David Kirk emailed me. I think his email is worth sharing:
“I understand there have been questions at recent parish council meetings about the lack of progress for direct fibre broadband installations in Wreningham. It looks like we are waiting for City Fibre; they were awarded the fibre infill contract (Project Gigabit) for Norfolk in 2023. City Fibre have similar Project Gigabit contracts for numerous counties.”
“This is a multi-year process and City Fibre are already installing direct fibre to homes and businesses across many parts of Norfolk. For example, they are currently blitzing areas directly to the north and southeast of Norwich. In our south-western quadrant, outside Norwich, we won’t see any real progress until City Fibre construct their planned Fibre Exchange in Ayton Road, Wymondham. This Wymondham exchange is going to be constructed from a pair of pre-fitted-out cabins to be delivered and installed (in an old lorry park) just up the road from Screwfix but on the opposite side. Unlike most independent fibre companies, City Fibre provide standby electrical power at their exchanges so their end-to-end network still functions during a power outage (providing you have back-up batteries at home!). Around here, we might not expect City Fibre to get underway, at scale, until they have completed one of their other Norfolk sectors.”
“The ThinkBroadband website recently published preliminary maps showing who is due to receive the Project Gigabit services, property-by-property. These detailed maps are based on datasets generated in Whitehall. The Whitehall datasets involve a rolling review process, so we will probably see regular revisions to the ThinkBroadband maps. I would suggest we ought to see at least one further revision before we make too many assumptions about the accuracy of our local map.”
“Right now, ThinkBroadband’s local map suggests most of Wreningham will be covered by this City Fibre scheme. However, there seem to be a few oddities/anomalies against some Wreningham properties. The problem with basing an understanding on preliminary information is the danger of building people’s hopes too high. Whitehall (especially the Treasury) has never been (and probably never will be) a reliable friend to the UK population and it’s not unknown for their plans to change in the twinkling of an eye. These plans also depend on the current financial plans of City Fibre and their backers being maintained.”
“I will keep an eye open for revisions etc and keep you advised. We might allow ourselves partial optimism when work on the new City Fibre Wymondham exchange gets underway.”
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