Broadband slowly improving across the district
Once again the latest data released by Ofcom for Broadband connectivity and speeds across our area shows a very mixed bag.
It shows that Hawkinge for instance has 38.4% gigabit coverage and Folkestone Foord and Harbour, Lydd & Dungeness and Saltwood, Seabrook & Etchinghill have no gigabit coverage whatsoever.
The areas are broken down into what are called Middle Layer Super Output Areas, or MSOAs for short. These are a small area of statistical geography covering England and Wales. Each area has a similarly sized population (around 8,000 people on average) that remains stable over time.
The House of Commons Library have also produced a map, which is reproduced below so that you can compare your broadband speeds with friends and family who live elsewhere in the district, the county and the country.
The data used reflects broadband connectivity at Jan 2021. Overall it shows that things are getting better but not at a pace end users
Kent County Council offer help and assistance for people with slow broadband.
The Kent ‘Top-Up Voucher’ delivered through the government’s Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme aims to help those in the hardest to connect locations to get faster broadband.
From September 2020 residents in Kent were able to apply for up to £5,500 per residence and up to £3,500 per businesses. The Kent Top Up scheme can only be used in conjunction with the Rural Gigabit Voucher Scheme and will give both residential and businesses a combined value of up to £7,000 available per eligible premises.
If you are having issues with your broadband in an area in the Folkestone & Hythe District it would be wise to contact your KCC elected representative, these are:
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Cheriton, Sandgate & Hythe East – rory.love@kent.gov.uk
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Elham Valley – susan.carey@kent.gov.uk
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Folkestone East – jackie.meade@kent.gov.uk
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Folkestone West – dylan.jeffrey@kent.gov.uk
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Hythe West – andy.weatherhead@kent.gov.uk
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Romney Marsh – tony.hills@kent.gov.uk
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