Council Welcomes Superfast Broadband for Villages

Residents and businesses in three rural villages are to get high-speed fibre broadband after it was first feared they would miss out on an early upgrade.

Kirby-le-Soken, Kirby Cross and Great Holland were not included when BT announced its initial deployment of Superfast Broadband for the Frinton and Walton area.

However, following successful talks between Tendring District Council (TDC) and the company, BT has added the villages to the scheme with three new cabinets being provided as part of the upgrade programme.

Neil Stock, Leader of TDC, said it was fantastic news which will make a huge difference to the lives of many people.

“Residents, businesses and councillors representing the villages were upset and felt they were being left out and disadvantaged when the original announcement was made,” he said.

“We spoke to BT about the situation and despite the technical challenges they faced by including Kirby-le-Soken, Kirby Cross and Great Holland they have made it happen.

“The Council has worked hard to ensure the right environment has been created for BT to invest in our District. We have developed a good relationship with them and it is paying dividends.

“They went back and looked at the various options available to them and it has now been revealed that the upgrade will be extended. It will be a boost to the local economy and improve people’s quality of life.”

Cllr Stock said that TDC is only too aware how important high-speed broadband is in terms of communication capabilities.

“Villagers also played their part by getting in touch with BT to prove that there was a demand,” he added.

“Altogether more than 16,000 households and firms will now benefit when the upgrade takes place over the coming weeks in the Frinton, Manningtree and Wivenhoe exchange areas.”

Annette Thorpe, BT’s Regional Partnership Director said, the deployment of Superfast Broadband is a complex technical and civil engineering task.

“In some instances it is not commercially or technically viable to deploy cabinets,” she said.

“However, we are pleased that after a detailed review, on this occasion, we have been able to include the cabinets originally omitted.”