News update - 23 February 2011

Thanks to everyone who voted for the Rockingham Exchange (covering Cottingham, Middleton, East Carlton, Rockingham and Gretton)  in BT’s Race to Infinity. Unfortunately, we fell way short of the minimum 1,000 votes needed to qualify, with just 500 votes cast from 1,914 households.

This low level of response would seem to indicate that a privately funded broadband initiative is unlikely to be a viable proposition. The village broadband project group, headed by Dryden Phillipson, has therefore decided to stop looking into private funding, but will be keeping pressure on government to address this serious disadvantage for our rural community.

News: BT 'Race to Infinity' - 9 December 2010

BT’s ‘Race to Infinity’ is offering five rural telephone exchanges the chance to be placed top of the list for the roll-out of super fast, fibre optic cable broadband, plus the chance to submit a proposal to win £5,000 of computer equipment for a community project.

All you need to do to be in the race is to cast a vote (one per household) for the Rockingham Exchange (covering Cottingham, Middleton, East Carlton, Rockingham, Great Easton, Caldecott and Gretton).

Simply log on to www.racetoinfinity.com and follow the instructions, or text INFINITY followed by your NAME POSTCODE and HOUSE NUMBER to 80010.

At the time of writing, 425 votes have been cast for the Rockingham exchange, which is a good start - but we need more, and fast! First, we need at least 1,000 votes to qualify, and then we’ll most likely need more than that if we are to come in the top five. Winning exchanges will be judged on the percentage of votes cast compared to the number of houses in the exchange (there are 1,914 houses in the Rockingham exchange).

So, if you’re fed up with the slow speed of broadband in the villages, now’s your chance to make a difference. Vote now and encourage your friends and neighbours to do the same. Or, if you don’t have a computer or mobile phone, ask a relative or friend to vote for you and help your community. They only need your surname, postcode and house number.

The deadline is 31 December 2010 so we don’t have much time left - don’t delay, please vote now! 

News: October 2010

The Broadband project group has 16 members from Cottingham and Middleton. Anyone interested in pursuing super fast broadband for our villages should contact Dryden Phllipson or Pete Bowman by emailing bbproject@ovi.com. A meeting to discuss options is being arranged with BT Openreach later this year.

News: August 2010

Dryden Phillipson is continuing to look into opportunities to get a faster broadband service in the villages and has approached a couple of providers to see what they have to offer. We will keep you updated on this as the project progresses.

News: June 2010

A number of villagers are unhappy with the slow performance of their broadband service from a variety of providers. Some residents with a home based job or business need fast broadband; others want to benefit from the many online services and entertainment available only with fast download speeds. Sadly, our low performance broadband costs the same as the high speed service enjoyed in other UK locations, so we're getting poor value for money. BT's national rollout for fibre optic fast broadband is most likely to only
benefit highly populated areas for some time to come. This is a problem for many rural areas.

Lyddington village recently successfully set up their own high speed broadband service (see www.rutlandtelecom.co.uk). To explore the possibilities for a similar venture for Cottingham and Middleton, a working group has been formed which includes representatives of both Parish Councils.

Please register your interest in this project by contacting Dryden Phillipson or Pete Bowman on email BBproject@ovi.com