A cautious welcome has greeted UKB Networks submission for planning permission to build six or seven new 15 metre masts in the urban part of North Swindon after an earlier proposal was rejected (here). But the new locations could mean that fewer premises will receive the broadband service.
The original £1.9 million contract aimed to deliver a wireless superfast broadband (24Mbps+) service to around 20,000 homes in areas that have been left neglected by commercial fixed line operators, which would have required 16 new masts to be built.
However local residents and politicians in the urban side of North Swindon ultimately succeeded in blocking 5 of the proposed masts, which meant that 7,000 of the planned 20,000 premises would not be able to receive the service unless alternative locations could be found (i.e. the 13,000 premises in rural areas were unaffected).
The good news is that UKB Networks have now submitted a revised proposal for six to seven new masts, which would be built as far away from homes and schools as possible (avoiding further complaints). However the caveat is that the final network coverage will be a little less than the original aspiration of 20,000 premises (we don’t know how much less).
Graham Currier, UKBN’s Head of Networks, said (here):
“We have had a walk round and these locations are the only places that will work for masts that are not directly opposite schools, play areas or houses. We are limited in what else we can do as our five site location has been refused and the other is the only other real option.
Our six site location may work but it would increase the amount of postcodes that would be out of the range to receive the speeds we want to deliver.”
Early feedback from the plans suggest that locals appear to be more welcoming of the new proposal, although it remains to be seen if that will change over the next few weeks of consultation. The news also follows hot on the heels of BT’s recent announcement for the area (here), which saw their 500 premises strong FTTP trial going live in Haydon Wick (North Swindon).
Comments are closed