The man leading a company's roll-out full-fibre broadband across Trafford has moved to allay fears of people concerned about the sudden appearance of telegraph poles across the borough. Gareth Cornelius is regional head for the Manchester area for BRSK Ltd and says that currently only five per cent of the households in the borough have access to the high-speed service.
Mr Cornelius has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that wherever possible the company accesses Openreach infrastructure underground under Ofcom regulations. However, he said there are situations in certain areas where no underground connection is viable, resulting in the need for new telegraph poles.
As reported by the LDRS earlier this month, telegraph poles have sprung up in Sale, prompting complaints from some residents. The sudden appearance of the poles sparked a fierce debate on Facebook after someone posted anonymously saying they arrived home to find 'this monstrosity right outside our [their] house'.
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"Apparently they have the right to install these without consultation with residents, regardless of the true need for ultrafast fibre broadband, aesthetic damage to the area or property value," they wrote. "Have lodged a strong complaint, for what it's worth, but if this is a wider problem for Sale, perhaps it's one for our MP."
Some of the replies were dismissive of the original poster's complaints. One said: "If they have the right to install these without consultation, then you are wasting your time complaining. They are virtually every road anyway."
Another said: "You'll have brilliant broadband speed though to take your mind off it." James McAinsh posted: "It's an age-old paradox. I want a faster network, but on my terms, or I support more green energy, but don't put one of those wind turbines in my field of view... personally, you won't even notice it's there after a few weeks."
Joe Murray agreed. He wrote: "There's one across the road from our house. It just exists. Give it six months and you won't even notice it." Thomas Reid opined: "You'll find more and more of these popping up as part of a plan to provide people with full-fibre before 2025, people complain about poles but then complain about the lack of network infrastructure."
The Local Democracy Reporting Service visited Lynwood Grove, where a pole was erected two weeks ago. A printed notice attached to the mast said that it was 'electronic communications apparatus' installed under the Communications Act 2003.
More poles are likely to be put up around Timperley and Altrincham as BRSK continues its programme after kickstarting proceedings in Stockport and Didsbury.
"Demand for full-fibre broadband went through the roof during the pandemic," said Mr Cornelius. "There's a difficult balance to be struck. Do we did up a whole footpath to connect full-fibre, creating disruption or do we put up poles? The point is, the Government wants us to do this."
However, he went on: "Unlike the major incumbent suppliers we are not just going to quote regulations to people to get out of resolving queries and will always work to the best possible solution for all parties.
"Whilst we won't be able to always resolve every issue as everyone would like we will do our very best."
Mr Cornelius said the company would 'address concerns'.
"We have a complaints procedure as detailed in the statutory notice attached to the poles we put up," he said.
"We want to help support the communities in which we build by engaging with local authorities, schools and community groups to provide connectivity to community assets where there is a need."
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