Broadband for Milton Keynes

Interested in lobbying BT for Broadband access? Contact us!

Press Release

September 2003

Cover

We have finally found success with our long campaign to get Broadband in
Monkston, however on our 'journey' we have met many people from other areas
who cannot get Broadband for various other reasons. Some of these people are
unlikely to get Broadband for years, so we've written a press release that I
hope might be of interest.

Our aim is to appeal to more people in other areas, such as Great Linford,
Broughton, Walnut Tree and Middleton, so we can provide a larger list of
'people who want Broadband' to BT. All we're asking is people who want
Broadband, but cannot get it for whatever reason, stand up and be counted.
Each area will have a 'warden' assigned by the group leader (Nick Hubbard) in
the near future, and they will be putting the case forward once armed with a
list of names.

I hope you will support our campaign, and please give me a call if you need
any other details.

Thanks,

John Baker

PR follows

"Monkston makes Broadband Progress"

This week residents in Monkston have finally been promised Internet Broadband
from BT.

"Our new houses had the phones connected by fibre optic. Initially you would think 'wonderful, what a modern wonderful place we've moved to'. until you want broadband!" mentioned Nick Hubbard, the coordinator of the Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group.

BT does not provide Broadband over fibre optic cables; they only provide Broadband that runs over copper cable.

"I spoke to my neighbours and quickly realised I was not the only one demanding Broadband. Our group quickly grew. We contacted everyone we could think of: BT, OFTEL, NTL, Councillors, our MP." continued Nick.

The Group had their breakthrough in May when they organised a meeting with a BT director, the telephone area manager, and a Broadband engineer. BT invested large sums of money running copper cable into Monkston in July and the work has recently been completed. Therefore around 114 members of the group should soon be joining the modern world.

John, the group's press secretary, continues, "We see the power of the community getting together to support a campaign that will benefit everyone. This only goes to prove that every individual matters, if only by standing up and being counted."

What other successes has the group had?

The group is working with MK Council's Wireless Broadband Pilot that's being run by NTL at some point in the future.

Thirty members have also gained from BT "Extended Reach" programme.

Twenty members in Kents Hill were connected after BT investigation engineers inspected cable records and discovered some to be incorrect.

The Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group has 300 members that have 'fallen through the gaps' between the telephone exchanges. The group will be meeting a BT Broadband specialist later this month to discuss possible solutions.

The group is structured so that each estate has a 'deputy' who knows what the local issues are.

Nick Hubbard, John Baker and Richard Evans are keen to enlist new members from areas such as Kents Hill, Broughton, Wavendon  and Middleton. People have to do nothing more than 'stand up and be counted'.  The greater the numbers, the quicker progress can be made.

John concluded, "Credit must be given where it's due, and in this case Nick has worked extremely hard to highlight the problem and provide Monkston with Broadband. We are all very grateful.".

If you want Broadband then visit http://www.bb4monkston.co.uk/ for details on joining the group.
 

August 2003

So you thought you'd get Broadband in MK?

Well you may well be disappointed!

The problem

All the BT exchanges that serve Milton Keynes are ADSL enabled. If you live near one of the old towns then you're fine! The problem is in BT's infrastructure planning years ago: Broadband wasn't around when MK was created. Broadband signals fail to reach customers more than 5.5km from a BT exchange.

The lack of Broadband is pronounced across the city. There is a swathe along the eastern estates from Great Linford in the north, through Milton Keynes Village, to Old Farm Park in the south. Estates around Great Holm and Crownhill also suffer - they are too far from either the Stony Stratford or Bletchley telephone exchanges.

The Group

Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group with 400 members across Milton Keynes. Historically the group focussed on Monkston, but quickly found the lack of Broadband is widespread across Milton Keynes.

"The aim of our group is to highlight the lack of Broadband in MK and to get the issue resolved. We're astounded that our modern city is still in the dark ages!" said Nick Hubbard, The coordinator for the Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group.

What we've done

We have made constructive progress over the last 5 months:

1, Involvement with the Council's Wireless Broadband Pilot due to roll out this September.
2, Securing a "Special Point of Contact" within BT. We can now talk to someone that knows of the problems.
3, Getting residents involved in BT's extended reach pilot. 10 members of our group are now enjoying Broadband.
4, Several Kent's Hill members are now able to get Broadband. The group's pressure highlighted a BT cabling problem.

Details

More details are at:

http://www.bb4monkston.co.uk

If you want Broadband please get in touch!

The coordinator for the Milton Keynes Broadband Action Group is Nick Hubbard. nick@anotherurl.com