Rural community renews call to be brought into the digital age

Residents in a rural Fife community which suffers “pitiful” broadband speeds have been told their homes are too remote for a regular service.

Around 40 households in the Montrave and Pratis area, near Leven, have been struggling with snail’s pace speeds for some time. Resident Robert Lumsden said schoolchildren were unable to do homework which requires online research and people were finding it difficult to work from home.

He and his neighbours have been pressing BT and Openreach for a better service for three years. He said they were initially told they would have to pay £48,000 for fibre broadband – with the quote since soaring to £79,000.

Mr Lumsden said: “When your child gets told off at school for not doing their digital research homework – and is disbelieved when they explain about their abysmal broadband speeds at home – you know something is badly wrong.”

He claimed the area was languishing in the bottom 0.6% for connectivity in the UK, worse than most of the rural Highlands.

An Openreach spokeswoman said: “This community is connected to a street cabinet that was commercially upgraded for fibre broadband, but there is a technical limitation.

“If the distance from a cabinet to a house exceeds 1.5km, there is a significant drop in the speed achievable. Properties in Montrave Estate are around 5km from their cabinet and, as a result, their lines are not able to support a high-speed service.”

The spokesman said alternatives had proved unfeasible, but added: “In such a situation, where there are no plans for further upgrades, Openreach offers a scheme where we will work with a community to design and co-fund an upgrade.”

Picture: Steven Brown. Robert Lumsden at his computer.