Hammersmith and Fulham Council has been criticised by residents over a “misleading” statement about high speed broadband.

Cllr Mark Loveday backs their challenge and says:

“Tens of thousands of residents still won’t be getting access to Superfast Broadband – including people within a few yards of the Town Hall itself. The technical masterpiece known as BT’s ‘Cabinet 50’ (which seems to contain little more than the dashboard wiring from an Austin Allegro) is just one such example.

“Apart from Cabinet 50, BT Openreach refuse to say which residents and businesses will benefit from the new ‘deal’. Officers have guesstimated the numbers who will benefit in the press notice, but have not been given any hard details – so it’s impossible to check. I still cannot get an answer whether residents in Peterborough Road SW6, whose BT Cabinet appears to be 8 inches from the main Fulham telephone exchange, will get a fibre connection to the exchange itself. We also don’t know about residents and business with direct connections to the exchange and who are not served by BT Cabinets.

“It is not a question of technical problems, but financial viability. BT Openreach has offered to install fibre to the cabinets if residents and businesses will pay for the cost themselves.
As I understand it, the new ‘agreement’ mentioned in the press notice doesn’t actually involve the Council doing anything or putting any resource into the rollout.”

He has suggested that Section 106 funds could be used to pay the cost of the ‘left behind’ areas and achieve near 100 per cent access.