Full speed ahead for web pioneers
A SLEEPY Rutland village now has faster internet access than many cities, thanks to an innovative project.
Lyddington has the fastest fibre optic broadband in the UK for a rural village, thanks to the passion and commitment shown by the villagers and an Uppingham-based business.
Rutland Telecom secured 37,000 of investment from villagers to install a fibre optic link to the village, which gives residents access to broadband speeds of 25Mbps, 50 times faster than before. It is the first project of its kind in the country and was officially unveiled yesterday.
Rutland Telecom managing director Dr David Lewis said he was delighted to be offering unique service to an otherwise technologically-impoverished community.
Villagers have already sampled the new service and have declared it a massive success.
Stuart Taylor-Harris, of Colley Rise, Lyddington, said: "The broadband has transformed our lives.
"Video calls to my daughter and her family in the US are now excellent and we can now stream any TV programmes we have missed to the TV from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or five, or we can save them to the computer and watch them at any time over the following 30 days."
Peter Lawson, of The Green, Lyddington, who helped co-ordinate the fundraising effort, said: "My phone bill for everything is less than half what it was a year ago, with tremendous quality."
The Rutland Telecom team announced at the event that the second village to be connected like Lyddington will in North Wales, and the company is in advanced discussions with Great Easton, five miles from Lyddington, for a similar scheme.
Eleven people in Lyddington loaned money to Rutland Telecom to pay for the installation of the fibre optic cable and the general set-up costs.
The villagers will get an annual 10 per cent gross return for three years after which time their capital will be fully repaid.
"They will receive their first dividend cheques in about eight weeks time.
Yesterday's ceremony was held in Main Street where the cabinet with the fibre optic connection is.
Dr Charles Trotman, head of rural business development for the Country Land and Business Association, said: "This work shows it is possible for rural communities to receive next generation access broadband across the UK and is an important step forward which should be congratulated."
The cabinet in Lyddington which provides the new service has the capacity for 500 lines and serves Lyddington's 200 homes and the villages of Stoke Dry and Thorpe-by-Water.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Oakham
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North east
