Tiny Suffolk UK Hamlet of Shingle Street Gets Superfast Wireless Broadband

The small coastal hamlet of Shingle Street in Suffolk (England), which is home to a total of just 25 houses, has been delivered into the modern digital age after a local campaign (Wilford Bridge Broadband Project) succeeded in getting Buzcom to deploy its superfast wireless (wifi) broadband service (FibreWiFi) across the area.

The project, which was at least partly funded by money from the former East of England Development Agency (EEDA), DEFRA and the European Union, managed to reach the isolated hamlet by distributing a wireless signal from the top of a church tower in neighbouring Hollesley.

Gary Disley, Managing Director of Buzcom, said (EADT24):

“Even when quicker broadband arrives in Suffolk, many areas will never see fibre-optic cables and Shingle Street is one such place. We sit in the gap between the slow speeds of dial-up connections and the really quick fibre optic – and we offer communities that will likely fall between the cracks a solution.”

Locals now have access to an affordably priced (from £12.25 per month) and 25Mbps (Megabits per second) capable service, which is a remarkable achievement given how small Shingle Street is. On the other hand it’s difficult to put this into perspective without knowing how much the service actually cost to deliver. Credits to Thinkbroadband for spotting this.