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Press Release
Campaigners' protest brings results
Campaigners who have been working to get the Brent Knoll telephone exchange upgraded to allow Broadband Internet access, have at last been given a firm date for the work to be carried out - and it will be soon!
Derek Almond, Steve Baggs, David Filmer and Tony Gore, all from Brent Knoll, ran a door-to-door campaign in Brent Knoll and East Brent last Christmas to generate enough interest to persuade BT to put the exchange on the list for upgrading. They achieved the target of 200 registrations within a week and went on to achieve well over 300, but the team were disappointed when BT failed to fix a date for the upgrade. Worse was to follow when, after three months of silence, BT set a deadline of January 2005 for the work to be completed.
Throughout this lengthy wait, the campaigners have been working hard to hurry things along. The team has investigated wireless Broadband systems that could operate independently of BT, and which could have been introduced much sooner than BT's proposed date. They applied increasing pressure to BT, which culminated last Friday (2 April) in a visit by David Filmer to Bill Mackenzie, BT's head of Broadband, at the BT Tower in London.
That visit had the desired effect, and villagers in Brent Knoll and East Brent can now look forward to having Broadband Internet access from 26 May - eight months earlier than was initially proposed by BT. Mr Mackenzie has promised to keep an eye on the project personally to ensure the target date is met.
Steve Baggs said, "We are delighted that the campaign now seems to be heading for a successful conclusion. After such a positive response from local people to our plea for registrations, we were extremely disappointed with BT's initial reaction - we felt that the villages had been let down. Now, after much local lobbying and some serious talking, we have had a much more positive outcome. We are grateful to Mr Mackenzie for taking an interest in our predicament, and welcome his support in driving the upgrade through."
Villagers who want Broadband Internet access now need to decide which Internet Service Provider they will use for their systems. Steve Baggs said, "This is a fiercely competitive market, and it is well worth while spending some time researching which company will suit your needs best before making a commitment."
7 April 2004
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