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Councils claim BT too 'aggressive' over broadband secrecy [Western Morning News (England)](Western Morning News (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Two district councils have launched a scathing attack on the plans to roll out superfast broadband in Devon and Somerset, accusing BT of an "aggressively commercial" ap-proach. Others, including Teignbridge, are now refusing to contribute funding to the Connecting Devon and Somerset fund, which is currently Pounds 3.65 million short of the target, because they claim not to have any guarantee that residents in their area will receive access to faster data speeds. The senior councillor tasked with scrutinising the project has called his findings "the most disappointing" committee in which he has been involved in while in local gover nment. Tim Wood, chairman of the task and finish forum (TAFF), has been scrutinising the project for East Devon and South Somerset district councils, which have both refused to sign "gagging orders" as insisted on by the communications giant. Critics say BT has been handed a virtual monopoly, allowing it to use public money to fund already "highly profitable" operations, leaving hard-to-reach rural areas without any service. Reporting the results of the investigation, he said BT had been "aggressively commercial", pressing the case for nondisclosure agreements with "considerable force", leaving councils excluded from discussions that might have been helpful to their residents. "Indeed the lack of information has made it more difficult for rural residents to seek possibly viable alternative solutions to their internet problems, Coun Wood added. One meeting of the TAFF attended by BT, county councillors and parish and other councillors "demonstrated a completed failure for minds to meet," his report complained. "There was negligible willingness for those who knew more information to reveal it and there was an air of frustration and anger on the part of those who felt their residents were being kept in the dark despite huge quantities of taxpayers' money being spent on the project," he added. "In this instance, it was not Whitehall but BT who knew best but for the ordinary person it was better that they were ignorant." Officials are currently launching a tender process which would take coverage in the two counties up to 95% of all properties while 100% remains an aspiration. The previous Pounds 94 million contract with BT promised that 90% of businesses and residents across the two counties would see data transfer speeds increased to speeds of 24Mbps and above by 2016. The umbrella organisation Connecting Devon and Somerset (CD&S) has now secured Pounds 19.1 million of a target Pounds 22.75 million from district and county councils to fill in the gaps in hard-to- reach areas. The Pounds 3.65 million gap actually represents a Pounds 7.3 million shortfall in investment when potential match funding by the Government is taken into account. Somerset MP Tessa Munt recently tweeted about the "dire state" of broadband in the county and said it was "essential we fix this if potential of rural economy to be realised". Ottery St Mary, in Devon, saw 1,300 premises officially connected to the superfast network on Friday, part of the original 90% scheme, delivered by the Government agency Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK). Devon county councillor Andrew Leadbetter, who is part of CD&S, said 330 cabinets had already been updated to high speed but admitted there was "a lot more to do". Mr Leadbetter said people would not be denied regardless of whether their local council contributed to the scheme or not. "We have got a commitment to 100% by 2020 but it takes a bit longer to get to the hard-toreach areas," he added. "We cannot all be first as it is a massive engineering project - people need to trust us as we have not forgotten them. A spokesman for CD&S said the success of the programme "is not diminished" by the report's recommendations, which did not highlight the numbers connected. "We are doing incredibly well and have connected over 300 cabinets - anyone can come to our web site and find out about the roll-out in their area," he added. "The partnership between BT and Connecting Devon and Somerset is committed to making detailed and accurate information on the roll- out available as early as possible, but it can only do so with accuracy when detailed survey work has been undertaken. "We would be very happy to meet Councillor Tim Wood to discuss this report and what we can do to help. We have only just seen the document so it is difficult to comment in detail at this stage." What do you think? Are the more remote areas of the Westcountry being neglected by BT? westernmorningnews.co.uk (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |