It’s official – broadband speeds on Romney Marsh, Lympne & Stanford suck!

In 2015 Williamson Road, Lydd on Sea average broadband speed was 0.54Mps, which meant it would take around 19 hours to download a two-hour HD film, and a 20-song music album would take 49 minutes to download, according to a survey by uSwitch.

Some of the slowest broadband speeds were found in Lydd-on-Sea, Romney Marsh.

Three years on has much changed?

Well according to the latest data available from Ofcom, areas such as Dungeness, Lydd on Sea, Greatstone and Littlestone are still suffering from speeds less than 2 mbits/s according to the Consumer Data Research Centre’s map taken from Ofcom data. (Classifications are an average across the local area, rather than for individual houses, therefore the colour coding on a building is not necessarily indicative of that building.)

Other areas such as Lympne, Newingreen and Stanford too suffer from incredibly slow and low broadband speeds.

The worst affected areas as the map makes clear are rural areas. However, this would be expected with infrastructure costs, the economics of putting in fibre connections, and increased distances to the nearest telephone exchanges, broadband speeds still suffer in the countryside, with the (TN) postal area having the slowest average broadband connection and the CT postcodes having the highest.

Now according to the Rural Broadband Partnership Better Broadband for Romney Marsh, and Lympne and Stanford are still awaiting funding

However, for those of you who live in larger villages and towns such as Sellindge, Lyminge, Hythe & Folkestone speeds are in the 20 – 70 mbits/s, according to Ofcom’s data.

Such low and slow speeds across the Romney Marsh post code area must affect businesses and have a knock on affect to their bottom line. But it is not just businesses, who suffer. Households, who use the net for a variety of reasons suffer too, and in the 21st Century, should this be acceptable? We think not.

Swathes of Romney Marsh, Lympne & Stanford are broadband blackholes, this is in part to BT who see no point in putting in the necessary infrastructure because it would not return a profit, simple as that.

According to Folkestone & Hythe District Council’s Folkestone works website, speeds of up to 1GB are available in the district. It’s just a pity that the New Romney area don’t get such speeds, or Lympne or Stanford.

Moving on, Kent County Council claim that  95% of properties across Kent and Medway can now access a superfast broadband service of at least 24mbps, if you count 24mbps as “superfast”.

However, for those who suffer from low or slow broadband speeds whether in Lydd on Sea or Acrise, help may be at hand apparently.

KCC are administering the Government’s Better Broadband Scheme in Kent. The Government’s scheme provides subsidised installation of fixed wireless and satellite broadband connectivity to properties that cannot currently access a broadband speed of at least 2mbps. There are a range of packages on offer, including options that provide speeds significantly greater than 2mbps.

Click the link to see if you are eligible ⇒ Government’s Better Broadband Scheme

If not, you can always start a campaign to get faster broadband services in your area, oh and be sure to get your Councillors involved too. It’s about time all the people in our fantastic district were treated equally especially when it comes to broadband access.

Good luck.

The Shepwayvox Team – Always Skeptical, Never Cynical.