More rural homes promised faster broadband as minister visits remote south Shropshire telephone exchange

On Thursday afternoon, this blink-and-you'll-miss-it shed off a C-road near Stottesdon (between Cleobury Mortimer and Bridgnorth), played host to the government's 'Broadband Minister', Liz Lloyd. 

She was there to meet with the Openreach engineering teams working as part of Project Gigabit - a government-funded programme to enable communities to access fast and reliable broadband.

The government expects 99 per cent of homes and businesses will have access to a "lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband connection" by 2032.

For those already accustomed to high-speed internet at home, it may not seem like delivering a Netflix service without buffering should be a priority for the government.

But for thousands of rural Shropshire homes and businesses, a slow internet connection is leaving them more and more isolated from the modern world - unable to work from home, video call or access essential services like internet banking or increasingly online doctors' appointments.

"If you think about what is key for people - electric, gas, water, sewage - all of those things are fundamental, we accept as a society those things are fundamental," said Openreach's corporate affairs director, Miles Evans.

"But there's definitely an argument to say that a fast, reliable internet connection falls into that category. If you had a scenario where people were cut off from a long period of time from one of the other services, there would be uproar, rightfully."

At the moment, work is underway to reach around 12,000 homes in and around Much Wenlock, Six Ashes, Coton, Bridgnorth, Quatt, Quatford, Cantern Bank, Eardington and Oldbury. 

But the government assured us that households elsewhere in the county weren't being left behind in the wake of the cancellation of another major contract in north Shropshire last year.

In 2023, Freedom Fibre was awarded a government contract to roll out gigabit-capable broadband to 12,000 homes and businesses but after "changes in the external market", the company revealed it was no longer able to complete the contract in full.

The company and the government agreed to "descope" the remaining 8,500 unconnected premises from the contract. 

Now, the government has said it is working hard to ensure these premises still get access to a fast, reliable broadband connection "as soon as possible" and said they were working with Openreach to include north Shropshire within their wider rollout. The deal is expected to be finalised shortly.

“Whether it's families streaming together, farmers being able to use new technology, or businesses reaching more customers online, this upgrade creates real opportunities for communities across Shropshire," said UK telecoms minister Liz Lloyd.

“Through our Project Gigabit rollout, we’re making sure people across the UK can benefit from the digital world, no matter where they live." 

Martin Williams, Openreach partnership director for Wales and the South West, said the scheme was the second-largest infrastructure project in the country - second only to HS2.

“This is a major infrastructure upgrade, so there will be more engineering teams, equipment and vans around town, and we're working hard to keep disruption to a minimum," he said.

“Wherever possible, we’ll use our existing network of ducts and poles to avoid roadworks, new street furniture and disturbance. But there may be places where we need to install new poles, underground ducts and fibre cables because it’s the only way to make sure households get included in the upgrade.  

“Openreach is committed to building the best full fibre network, and doing it sustainably is crucial for our business, the communities we serve, and the environment we all share. 

"As part of our ‘Let’s Reach Zero’ strategy, we aim to lower our carbon emissions, use less and waste less material, and protect nature wherever we operate.”  

Today, (Friday, March 13) a new online government service has been launched for people in England and Wales to check if they can access or are included in plans for government-backed broadband upgrades.