Rural Cumbrians complain of broadband delay

People in rural parts of Cumbria said they have missed out on high-speed internet after being brought under a government contract to connect properties.

The government aims to make gigabit broadband available to 85% of the UK by 2025.

Communities in east Cumbria were due to secure connections under a voucher scheme but locals said they were no longer eligible.

Government officials said the projects “were never approved.”

John McDarren, chairman of Murton Parish Council, said: “We were going to have the first houses connected by Christmas and then the balance of the parish connected by the spring.

“Then the voucher scheme was pulled and it all collapsed around us.”

The government runs a voucher scheme, which can be used to subsidise projects to connect properties that are eligible.

Mr McDarren said properties in their area had been listed as eligible earlier in 2023 and discussions had taken place with not-for-profit provider B4RN about supplying broadband under the scheme.

It is now understood these properties have been brought under a government contract to connect 60,000 properties in Cumbria, meaning they do not qualify for vouchers.

The Project Gigabit contract is expected to be delivered by 2026.

Paula Ellis from Hilton said it was “devastating” that the community had missed out on the voucher scheme because work was “a couple of days” away from starting.

She said the current broadband and mobile phone signals in her house were “non-existent”.

“It would have made a colossal difference to me,” she said.

Appleby dairy farmer Jonathan Schug said the existing broadband was so poor he had spent £400 installing a 4G system, which has high monthly costs.

His business relies on the internet to monitor his cows’ health using ear tags.

“The way that the job’s going, we’re having to use less staff to do more work, so we are completely reliant on technology,” he said.

A government spokesperson said: “These specific projects were never approved and no funding has been removed.

“More than £100m is being invested in Cumbria to connect people to lightning-fast broadband.

"The first premises are already connected and benefitting from access to gigabit-capable, reliable internet access.”

B4RN declined to comment.

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