Momentum is gathering for faster broadband
Winchester City Council and the eHampshire Partnership are seeking your views on access to broadband internet. In order to secure better broadband speeds across our district, we need your help to complete a short survey at www.ehampshire.org/winchester/c-339
Over 1,000 replies have been received so far to help identify the strength in demand for better broadband. The survey asks for your current internet speeds, and seeks your views on what you would pay for faster access to the World Wide Web. More feedback is needed to persuade internet providers to focus on existing not-spots.
The results of the survey will focus on the priority order of settlements demanding higher speed broadband access. The evidence that is gathered will be used to lobby those providing internet infrastructure and to provide a better service to Winchester residents and businesses.
Cllr Dominic Hiscock, Portfolio Holder for Economic Prosperity at Winchester City Council, is encouraging everyone to take five minutes out to complete the survey, “The internet is becoming an ever more important tool in our both our working and domestic lives, and we believe that everyone should have access to decent broadband. We need to persuade internet providers to build the right infrastructure in the right place to achieve this, and to do that, we need solid evidence of need.”
Glenn Peacey, eHampshire Manager, encourages all Winchester residents and businesses to take part, “This survey has already been undertaken in Basingstoke, where we have worked in conjunction with Openreach (BT Group) to provide better broadband infrastructure for residents. The Winchester survey results are a vital tool for us to demonstrate to providers that there is a demand for better broadband in existing not-spots.”
You can access the survey by logging onto www.ehampshire.org/winchester/c-339 which also has a tool to measure your current broadband speed. In addition, you can email more general comments to Kate Cloud, Head of Economy and Arts at ecdev@winchester.gov.uk or telephone 01962 848 563 for more information.