Community Activism Update

There have been a number of letters written to our local representatives asking for help.   I think it is fair to say that we have raised some awareness with both our local councilors and with Theresa Mays office as well.   It is not too late to write a letter yourself if you are reading this and have not done so.

My process with this matter started when I learned that we had been bypassed by BT for the commercial rollout of Fibre.   I only learned this when out of frustration I contacted their executive offices and was able to have a conversation with Chris Wright who seemed to have the unenviable job of talking to aggravated customers such as myself.

I have since reached back out to that office with the following message:

Chris: It has been a while since my initial contact with BT in regards to the state of our internet connectivity here in Temple.   In that time we have been working to better organize the residents of Temple in hopes that community action might help gain us some attention to our issue.  We have succeeded in getting 70% of the community registered on the Superfast Berkshire website and expect this number to cross 90% later in December when we do another flyer to all residents.   We have also had a number of residents raise a dialog with our representatives both in the Borough and with our MP.    Again, we hope to see still more correspondence following our next flyer as our poor connectivity is an issue over which concern is mounting. This leads me to a couple of questions that I hope that you might be able to help me with.   First, is there a process where-by BT Openreach will revisit the commercial parameters for the upgrade of a cabinet?   Even if this process still results in a negative decision, I would hope that the margin by which it fails, if indeed it does, might be smaller than the past iteration.  Second, will BT Openreach be participating in the tender process that is underway from Superfast Berkshire and will our cabinet (and the hopefully lower cost for an upgrade) be included in that process?   Lastly, If not, could it be?  Thanks in advance for your time in responding to my query. Regards, Will Kostelecky

I have since gotten a call back from BT though it was only to ask for patience until next week when she (Stacey) has had a chance to research the matter.

I have no idea whether any of this activism will matter in the end but it can not hurt.   Please write a note yourselves if you have not already.   The addresses and a template letter are located on this blog.