Gittisham village hopes dashed a fourth time for fibre broadband

Residents of Gittisham in East Devon are exploring options to bring superfast broadband to the village, after they were let down an incredible fourth time in ten years by the latest provider promising to roll out a fast and reliable internet service.

Residents of Gittisham in East Devon are exploring options to bring superfast broadband to the village, after they were let down an incredible fourth time in ten years by the latest provider promising to roll out a fast and reliable internet service.

The push to find an alternative solution follows a meeting in the village in November, where a rural broadband campaigner said the community had been “left in the last century” by a succession of companies.

The meeting, arranged by Gittisham Parish Council, brought together 22 village residents (from a total of 45 homes) who told representatives of Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS, the local government-led partnership) about the challenges they have experienced with slow and unreliable broadband.  Many described how difficult it has been to do their jobs working from home and attend online health appointments.  School children spoke of how poor broadband meant they had missed out on their education, particularly during the pandemic when classes were taught online.

Residents of Gittisham regularly report broadband speeds of less than 10Mbps, with some less than 5.

Gittisham, like many communities across Devon and Somerset, had been promised a superfast broadband service by the spring of 2024.  But at the end of October this year, the company Airband (contracted to deliver superfast fibre broadband to many communities in Devon and Somerset) announced it had come to an agreement with Connecting Devon and Somerset to reduce its rollout – with Gittisham one of the casualties.

At the meeting on 7^th November, Matt Barrow, (CDS Stakeholder Engagement Officer), said he deeply sympathised with the witness statements made.  He explained that he had visited the village nine years ago to oversee a previous contract by another company, but the wayleaves arranged over farmland could not be dug as winter weather made the ground too wet.  Subsequently the company involved folded. Two other companies have since abandoned attempts to put ducting along the road into the village.

In 2022 Airband took over the contract, donating money to support the well-attended Gittisham Fete, and the village was optimistic.

In an enquiry made by Gittisham Parish Council to Devon County Council earlier this year, CDS Programme Director Keri Denton admitted that Airband were struggling with their capacity to deliver.  Specifically they lacked the machinery and trained personnel. Phil Roberts, Programme Manager for CDS, explained that delivery of fibre broadband in towns and to new builds was much easier, specifically it was more profitable than connecting rural areas.

However it was pointed out that the government subsidy was precisely meant to deliver difficult to connect properties where market forces did not support the project.

Currently in nearby Honiton, Virgin is laying a second network of fibre to supply customers that are already able to get fast broadband through other fibre networks already laid.  Meanwhile many rural areas are severely disadvantaged in their connectivity to broadband, which impacts on opportunity for young people and productivity for those working from home.

The two guest speakers invited from CDS offered apologies for the fourfold failure in Gittisham, but held out no hope for improvement in fibre broadband provision in the near future.

Adam Powell, Gittisham parish councillor, said: “Looking back just five years at how we are becoming increasingly digitally dependent, in future this digital divide between town and country will only get worse.  Gittisham has been let down yet again, despite lobbying by our county councillor Phil Twiss to get better broadband. Too long have we placed our hopes on those who promised to deliver superfast broadband, only to be disappointed.  There are now active discussions taking place between residents to see if something can be done to end this ridiculous situation, because enough is enough.”