Finderne groups calling for improvements to rural broadband now

COMMUNITY groups are calling for the government to prioritise improvements to rural broadband.

Finderne Community Council (FCC) and Finderne Development Trust (FDT) - representing Rafford, Easter Lawrenceton, Dunphail, Edinkillie, Logie, Cathay, Altyre, Burgie, Blairs, Blervie, Brodieshill, Relugas, Glenerney and Braemoray - are hoping Moray’s MSP Richard Lochhead helps, having supported Openreach’s enhancements to Forres’s capacity.

FDT chairman Brian Higgs explained that improvement to broadband connectivity is a priority project for the trust, having explored options since June, 2019. FDT was focused on a potential community fibre partnership when the Scottish and UK governments announced voucher schemes to assist with internet access upgrades.

Mr Higgs said: “We were steered towards developing a partnership to provide a future proofed option for the community. These partnerships are delivered by Openreach and over the last two months we have requested support from them to no avail. Openreach have refused to provide detailed cost information required to evaluate the options. With Openreach’s announcements about Gigabit services in Forres it is obvious that commercial drivers far outweigh their protestations about supporting rural communities.”

Typical connection speeds across Finderne are 2Mbps, with existing speeds in Forres at around 60mbps. The upgrade to Gigabit speeds proposed by Openreach will mean that town centre internet connections are 500 times faster than rural areas.

FCC secretary, Howard Davenport claimed Openreach, with the Scottish Government’s blessing, is prioritising ultrafast Gigabit capacity broadband for Forres residents over upgrades of poor internet connectivity in out-of-town areas.

He said: “Rural communities are being put at the back of the queue.”

An Openreach spokesperson claimed the company recognises the challenges of rural living and is committed to bringing rural communities the best connectivity possible.

She said: “We’re investing in a new, ultrafast, full fibre network for Forres as part of our build to three million harder-to-reach premises and we’re working to extend that build even further using government vouchers pooled by the community. We’ve been engaged with the FDT from August 2019 to more recent follow up Zoom calls, and have looked carefully at whether the build could be extended as far as their area, alongside bespoke fibre partnerships for the communities involved. Unfortunately the indicative costs outweigh the funding available.”

She added: “The Scottish Government’s R100 programme has pledged to provide all of Scotland with a superfast broadband service of at least 30Mbps. The government has announced that the contract for the main build in the north of Scotland has now been signed. We expect the north build to be at least 80 per cent full fibre and our engineers will start survey work in the New Year.”

Issues with broadband access is a topic raised frequently by Finderne residents.

Mr Higgs said: “We have been advised that we will not even be told if we will be part of the Government’s R100 programme until late summer 2021 and even then, if we are lucky enough to be in the plan, it could be 2024 before we see any work done. The interim voucher scheme to provide short term improvements will not be available until late 2021. We have asked the Scottish Government to change the rules and help rural communities immediately. The need for decent broadband connectivity has been exacerbated by Covid-19 and the requirement for more people to work from home.”

Moray’s MSP Richard Lochhead claimed the R100 project is “a game changer”.

He said: “For rural communities, better connectivity can’t come soon enough. At a recent meeting, I convened to bring together FDT and Scottish Government, BT Openreach and HIE representatives. We discussed the need for interim solutions to bridge the gap between now and the roll out. There are various vouchers to help households and businesses get connected - we need as much clarity and flexibility as possible to allow these vouchers to be used.”

Mr Lochhead is raising the issue with minister for energy, connectivity and the islands, Paul Wheelhouse, and promises to help the Finderne community in any way he can.

He added: “Eighty eight per cent of Moray has access to superfast broadband due to previous government schemes and commercial investment but this is all the more frustrating for those homes who are struggling with a fraction of the broadband speeds enjoyed by others.”