Shropshire village trail-blazers get superfast internet
A Shropshire village is speeding into the 21st century with superfast broadband in the first community project of its kind in the county.
When residents in Little Wenlock heard their village was unlikely to get superfast fibre broadband as part of any commercial roll-out or local authority upgrade, they decided to look for an alternative route to get on to the scheme.
Little Wenlock had not been included in BT's fibre rollout plans because it was too expensive for such a small village.
But the villagers set about raising the extra money needed to connect to the Dawley telephone exchange themselves, and the new service was finally switched on yesterday.
Work on the ambitious project began about 18 months ago after villagers and parish councillors secured more than £30,000 from UK Coal's Community Fund with extra cash from Openreach, BT's network business.
After more than 2,700m of fibre optic cables were laid, the village is now ready to go superfast after yesterday's official launch.
John Marcham, clerk of Little Wenlock Parish Council, who spearheaded the project to bring fibre broadband to Little Wenlock, said: "Today marks a major milestone for us here in Little Wenlock. We're all very excited and looking forward to enjoying the many benefits of the new technology.
"It has brought us into the 21st century. Rural communities are so often neglected – people think we live in the outback and modern facilities aren't essential but they are."
Louise Pennells, one of the first villagers to get connected to the new fibre network, said: "It makes a massive difference really, living where we do.
"Now there's no waiting for minutes to download files and no longer any buffering when I try to view a clip or a programme."
Ian Binks, BT's regional manager for Shropshire and the West Midlands, said: "I think this is localism at its best.
"The people of Little Wenlock are true trail-blazers and are setting the pace for rural communities with this exciting partnership.
"They have worked tirelessly to get this ambitious project off the ground.
"Their enthusiasm and commitment is infectious and we're pleased to be working in partnership with them."
