High Speed Broadband for Upper Wharfedale
Every year the internet becomes more and more central to our lives; shopping, banking, government services and entertainment are moving to the internet. Increasingly email, Facebook, Google, iTunes, iPlayer and the like are becoming part of the fabric of our daily lives, and this trend is accelerating. Already, VAT returns have to be completed on-line; before long income tax will go the same way and this trend is inevitable. Already many companies give discounts if you deal with them on line
Much of the country is now on BT’s programme to roll-out Superfast Broadband providing speeds up to 20 times as fast as we currently receive – however this will be focused on towns and cities, and unless we take action, there is a very real danger that Upper Wharfedale will be left behind with a slow and unreliable service based on 20 year old technology.
There are government initiatives to support local communities in rural areas who do not want to be left behind. A small group of local residents with an interest in this subject (Chris & Sue Beazley, Chris Clarke, David Hood, Peter Vetch) have come together to explore what is possible both technically and in terms of the government support available. A critical part of this work is to understand how much interest there is in high speed internet in the dale, and how people use the internet at the moment.
We would also ask you to click on the link below and complete an on-line survey about your level of satisfaction with your internet service, and how you use the internet. It is very simple and will take less than 5 minutes to complete. Please only make one response per household, and reply on behalf of the whole household. All questions other than postcode and email address are optional - please only answer the questions you want to, and provide only as much information as you feel comfortable with. Data collected will be collated for analysis only. Individual responses will not be passed on to any third party.
Please reply before 13th February
Many thanks both for your interest and for taking the survey