Harjit and Councilor Kellaway:

We appreciate your looking into this matter for us.  

Roger and I discussed our situation subsequent to my email of 30 April and during that conversation we realized that we had no idea who is actually making the ultimate decision as to what communities will be served.   From this correspondence, and from the SFB website as well, it seems that the decision will be made ultimately made by the vendors based on what communities they bid on?   Temple is not being served now because BT Openreach has decided that we were not profitable!

We were glad to hear that the Council will be involved in this process.  It is, after all, our money that is being allocated, augmented of course by the central governments matching funds.  If this is purely left to the vendors, and their profitability metrics, then we fear our community will forever remain in the stone age of Internet connectivity.

Hopefully the council can work with SFB to ensure that the evaluation criteria balances the needs of a community like Temple against the stated goals of Superfast Berkshire when the councils money is to be allocated?   There is one more question that could be asked if Temple is not covered by one of the new vendor proposals.   That is, could the contract that is already in place with BT Openreach be considered for an upgrade to the cabinet that currently serves Temple (and part of Burchetts Green)?   This would at least get us speeds in the range of 8-12Mbps which is sure a lot better th
​an​
under
 ​
2Mbps!

If you could help with the above it would be greatly appreciated.    There is probably a very limited time when any influence can be exerted. 

With Thanks,
Will Kostelecky


Sent: Friday, May 1, 2015 2:17 PM
Subject: RE: Canvassing Call

Dear Mr Kostelecky.
 
I have had an opportunity to discuss the points that you have raised within your email with Colin Batchelor, Thames valley Superfast Berkshire - Project Manager. Colin has confirmed that the details as outlined in his previous correspondence to you on 19/45/2015 broadly remain the same.
The Council is however working  closely with Colin and his colleagues in finalising the arrangements for the Phase 2 of the Thames Valley SFB that seek to procure solutions for expanding superfast coverage to in excess of 95% by end of 2017
 
For the Royal Borough the project potentially would cover a geographical Intervention area of 198.4 km and 6,508 premises.  The Council is involved in the tendering process, however Until the procurement process is concluded we will know the extent of the coverage.
Although there is no guarantee, Temple Village and Temple Mill Island may well  be identified by suppliers with their proposed solutions and we have noted the broadband issues that you have raised for the area. The procurement process will commence on the 5th of May and conclude with contract(s) hopefully being awarded by late June.
 
I will however ensure that as the at the earliest opportunity possible that we provide you with more details of the outcome of the procurement. 
 
Kind regards
 
Harjit
 
Sent: 30 April 2015 06:16
Subject: Fw: Canvassing Call
 
Mr. Hunjan:
 
Per the below message from Councilor Kellaway in response to my inquiry regarding the possibility of Temple being addressed by the procurement underway by Superfast Berkshire.  
 
Can you please help us understand where Temple stands in the procurement process and if there is anything that we, or Councilor Kellaway, can do to help our chances of seeing some improvement?  I would hope that a community of 100 homes getting less than 2Mbps of speed on our current connections would put us high in the rankings of areas needing attention. 
 
I am copying Roger Thurston on this message as he is representing the Temple Island Owners Association which accounts for the majority of the residents of Temple.
 
Thank you in advance for your response,
Will Kostelecky
 
Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2015 12:14 PM
Subject: Re: Canvassing Call
 
Will many thanks for your e-mail.  I am sorry we missed you.  You and the people of Temple are  not forgotten but our representations on your behalf are frustrating.  I will send you the two latest responses and comments.  The man in the council handling the contacts is Harjit Hunjan and I suggest you contact him as well as me in the future.  Best regards Richard Kellaway

Sent from my iPad
 
On 25 Apr 2015, at 08:33, Will Kostelecky wrote:
Mr. Clark, Mr. Kellaway, and Mr. Saunders:
 
I was very sorry to have missed your canvassing call this week.   I would very much have liked to discuss a role that local representation can play in helping our community.   The issue is the state of our Internet connectivity and the possibility that the Superfast Berkshire initiative might be able to help us.
 
Temple is a village of 100 homes that has been cast adrift from the world of the High Speed Internet, much less from what is now being called the Superfast Internet.  This is not a new topic to some of you as there have been a number of people in the community, myself included, that have reached out to Mr. Kellaway.   Attached is my letter of January 20th.  Hopefully he has taken our matter to action though I have not heard back from him as a confirmation that this is true.
 
A stated goal from the Superfast Berkshire website is that all homes in Berkshire would have access to the Internet at speeds above 2Mbps.  Well, we certainly do not.   Our average is around 1.5Mpbs and some residents struggle to get even that speed.   Access to a high speed Internet connection has become as essential as power, running water, and bin collection and as such features in the your own parties manifesto for 2015 pledging '"Near universal superfast broadband" for rural areas'.
 
Moneys are in the process of being allocated now.   The moneys that are being allocated now include funds provided by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead   If there was ever a time when our local representatives could have an influence it seems that it would be now
 
Can you please help us?  
 
Thank you,
Will Kostelecky
 
 
 
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There is a government consultation under way in regards to the lack of coverage of some areas of the country by mobile operators.   I found some of the wording in t...

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