Residents in fury at march of broadband telegraph poles
THE picturesque towns and villages of Middle england are not usually breeding grounds for revolt.
But residents up and down the country are furious about the number of 30ft broadband telegraph poles being put up and the willingness of telecom companies to ignore their concerns that they are blighting neighbourhoods.
Homeowners have formed action groups to stop crews installing poles and resorted to blocking them with parked cars and by climbing drilling rigs. They argue that full fibre cables could go underground but existing ducts are not being shared between firms as they should and poles are being used to save either time or money.
Their determination – and lobbying by MPs – has led to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) looking into the way in which operators handle complaints from residents and how they share infrastructure with competitors. A change in the law last year removed the need for planning consent so residents are powerless to stop the poles being put up.
In Hedon, east yorkshire, where 500 poles are due to be installed, 15 residents have been legally blocking workmen by parking cars to stop them putting up the poles.
But after a break during which protesters complained to the council, the telecom firm MS3 is now free to carry on, with another 600 poles planned for nearby Cottingham.
Action group organiser Joyce Whittle, 62, said: ‘We are absolutely fuming that the Government has allowed this legislation to be changed. The situation is horrendous. We don’t need to put these poles up.’
emotions are also boiling over in Broadway and Willersey in the Cotswolds.
David Owen, 75, was arrested a month ago and ended up being taken to hospital with hypothermia after climbing on a contractors’ drilling rig during a three-day protest in Broadway. Mr Owen, who was released on bail, said Full Fibre Ltd has erected poles at the same time as another firm has been digging to install underground cables.
He added: ‘ These horrible poles are so unnecessary and estate agents have said it will reduce property prices.’
Full Fibre said: ‘While the vast majority of our delivery requires minimal physical works to deliver, sometimes it is necessary to deploy new infrastructure to enable the services.’
A spokesman added that in these areas there was no underground route to replace old copper cables with fibre optic ones.
Guy Miller, chief executive of MS3, said: ‘MS3 welcomes government intervention to encourage networks to share infrastructure and to provide further clarity around existing complaint handling guidelines.’
A DSIT spokesman said: ‘Operators have a statutory duty to share the use of infrastructure where practicable and we are looking at the ways they handle complaints related to their conduct and set minimum standards which that procedure must meet.’