For the modern business good broadband is essential. EasylifeIT™ has moved into Orton Southgate in September 2013; one of the largest commercial estates in Peterborough. Although we were prepared for lower broadband speeds; the lack of plans by BT Openreach to provision fibre in the area are shocking. This situation also exists in areas of Fengate, Westwood and Hampton commercial areas.
We find it incomprehensible as to why BT Openreach is appearing to neglect what the politicians tell us is the life blood of the British economy; small businesses. It is often the case that at home you can download and stream movies and browse the internet of speeds of up to 100mbs, while offices struggle to share connections of 2-4mbs with sometimes up to 50 staff. We have the additional frustration of seeing adjoining residential areas thumbing their noses at us with connections speeds we can only dream of.
This glaring omission in BT’s rollout plans for fibre into commercial areas of Peterborough can only be guessed at, but given the frequency of its occurrence it must surely be strategic. BT Openreach is supposedly divorced from BT Business and should operate with even handedness to all providers and yet appear to be overly influenced by BT’s commercial decisions and plans. Competition with Virgin Media and rollout of TV services seem to dictate their priorities while the wealth and job creators watch with envy as the domestic market seem to get all the good stuff. If one was feeling uncharitable we might even venture to suggest that BT may be protecting premium lease line and Ethernet circuits costing businesses thousands every year.
This situation is not acceptable and should not be borne.
Having spoken to customers in both Orton Southgate and Fengate we think it is about time we did something about it, so EasylifeIT™ launched a campaign with the support of local businesses, politicians and press to bring pressure to bear on BT to provision fibre for local businesses in these critical areas. Successful precedents in other areas of the country have involved the simultaneous completion of online requests and involvement of the local MPs, so we are working on both these at this time and will update you as we have more information, but this is a numbers game and the more support we can garner; the more successful we are likely to be.
Since this time we have had the broadband tornado known as ‘City Fibre’ rip through the city with its gigabit speeds, and some supporters of the Yes2Fibre campaign have forgone waiting for BT to fulfil its promises and signed up to receive the service.
The campaign continues, for more information, please visit –
https://www.easylifeit.com/yes2fibre/
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As both an entrepreneur and an IT specialist, Lindsey offers a blend of deep technical expertise and commercial insight, delivered in language business owners can really understand and trust. She works with clients to provide a full range of services from strategic advice through to project management and infrastructure support.
Lindsey is an accredited Cyber Essentials Consultant