Sir – I agree with Oxfordshire MEP James Elles that rural areas of Oxfordshire are stuck in the broadband ‘slow lane’ (Feature, October 28). The Cumnor exchange area stretches out as far as Farmoor and Appleton. Users near the far limits of the exchange area suffer most from slow broadband speeds. This is because broadband speeds drop off with distance from the exchange.

Houses in Farmoor are between 2½ and 3½ miles from the Cumnor exchange.

Broadband maximum speeds are typically 0.7Mbps to 2Mbps, and much worse in busy periods. In addition, people in Appleton live between three and five miles from the exchange. A survey has shown that broadband speeds at more than 20 addresses vary from 0.2Mbps to 2.2Mbps. The average speed is about 0.5Mbps. This service is clearly inadequate for the 350 households and 70 organisations and businesses in Appleton.

Many of these are start-ups working from home. One such resident needs to keep in touch with overseas customers 24 hours a day. Frequently he cannot send or receive large data files in Appleton; to do this, he has to drive to Botley. Cherwell and West Oxfordshire are also rural and, like the Vale, have a poor broadband quality ranking.

Oxfordshire County Council needs to co-ordinate the requirements of all our rural areas to obtain super fast broadband speeds at their exchanges. Broadband speeds in our villages might then become acceptable.

Dudley Hoddinott, District councillor for Appleton and Cumnor, Oxford