Friday, April 24, 2015

Spring is Here and Decisions are Near

Spring has sprung and as I write this we are approaching June when decisions are going to be made in regards to where Superfast Berkshire is going to invest in improving the state of Internet connectivity.

I am not feeling good about our chances.   The funds being allocated now for our area were largely provided by the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.    Given this it seems that an active role by our local representatives could be crucial.  I have reached out to Mr. Kellaway, as have others, and unfortunately we have not heard back from him.

I have reached out again (copy of my email is below) and hope that others in the community will also make one last effort.

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 and Sara Carter

It would be great if one of our elected representatives would champion our cause.  Without a champion I am afraid we are lost as I know that other council members are fighting for their constituents.