Cambridgeshire Businesses Asked to Help Identify Broadband Slowspots

The Connecting Cambridgeshire project, which is currently helping to extend “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) coverage to 99% of homes and businesses in the county by the end of 2020, has setup a new online survey in the hope that local businesses can help them to spot any remaining gaps in coverage.

Cambridgeshire County Council claims that feedback from the survey “will be used to support bids for future funding to help more businesses benefit from fast and reliable internet connectivity,” which is likely to be hinting at the Government’s forthcoming voucher scheme for “full fibre” (FTTP/H) provision (here), and they claim to have already helped 2,000 local businesses to improve their broadband via similar schemes in the past.

Councillor Ian Bates, Chair of the County Economy and Environment Committee, said:

“Superfast broadband is essential to the economic growth of Cambridgeshire because it means our businesses can thrive and compete in an increasingly digital world.

We know that there are still some gaps in superfast broadband coverage for businesses, especially in rural areas, and the results of this survey will help to show where further work is needed to ensure they get future proof connectivity.”

The practical usefulness of such surveys is open to debate, particularly since any gaps in coverage should have already been identified through the local Open Market Review (OMR) process, although if your business does have an issue then it’s always worth using any avenue you can to help highlight the problem.

The survey can be found online here (or you can call to request a questionnaire on 01223 703293) and it will be open for responses until 16th October. Obviously this is only for businesses based in Cambridgeshire.