Broadband snub will hit businesses (From Oxford Mail)

Broadband snub will hit businesses

10:00am Thursday 4th November 2010 in News By Liam Sloan

Raphael Merni

NEARLY 18,000 Oxford homes and businesses will not benefit from the city’s new superfast broadband next year.

Oxford’s central telephone exchange, plus those in Summertown and Headington, are all due to be fitted with BT’s new Infinity fibre optic system by March, giving download speeds of up to 40 megabytes per second.

But the Cowley exchange, which serves 17,705 properties, is not on the current schedule of upgrades.

Thousands of other homes a few miles from the city are also set to miss out.

Raphael Merni, from Computer Assistance in Oxford Road, Cowley, said he had repeatedly asked BT to upgrade Cowley’s broadband.

He said: “It is really irritating, and I do not know why Cowley exchange is not being upgraded.

“Maybe the people who decide this have some sort of rota, or maybe it is because people in North Oxford are richer.

“If other people around the county are getting it, we should get it.

“Superfast broadband is really vital, especially for people watching videos online.”

Another 8,450 properties served by the Kidlington exchange, 2,200 in Woodstock, 3,000 in Eynsham, 3,100 in Wheatley, and 2,900 in Cumnor are among those also missing out on superfast broadband.

Further afield, Carterton, Chipping Norton and Wallingford have also been left off BT’s upgrade list.

David Hine, of Appleton with Eaton Broadband group, said: “Our service five miles from the exchange in Cumnor is truly terrible. We have 50 small businesses in the village which are really hurting.

“The real story is the awful neglect of rural broadband provision in Oxfordshire.

“This is a vibrant economy with masses of small businesses, yet somehow our county seems to have some of the worst rural broadband provision outside remote counties like Cornwall and Cumbria.”

BT spokesman Emma Littlejohn said there was a “rolling programme” of upgrades carried out by its subsidiary Openreach.

She said more would be announced in 2011, adding: “There are a lot of exchanges to get through and a mix of reasons why we are doing what we are.

“Openreach are looking at areas where they get the best return from their investment, or who comes forward showing interest. There may also be reasons to do with topography or the existing network.

“Just because an exchange has not yet been named does not mean it is not going to be.”

Residents of exchanges serving more than 1,000 homes can vote for their communities to get superfast broadband in the BT’s Race to Infinity competition.

The company will install fibre optics in the five areas where the largest percentage of residents vote for it to be installed.

Leading the race is Blewbury, near Didcot, where 409 of the 1,236 residents have voted for the upgrade. Almost 6,000 Cowley residents would have to take part in the competition to match the village’s score.

• To vote go to the website racetoinfinity.bt.com