Anger as broadband cables dumped in the hedge

Peter Walters says a reel of cable was left on the roadside a couple of months ago while poles have been left unconnected

The firm responsible for installing fibre optic broadband in north Shropshire has been criticised for abandoning cables and leaving lines of telegraph poles unstrung.

Peter Walters, from Clive, said a wooden reel had been left on a roadside outside his village, and elsewhere wires had been left taped to the base of poles.

In May 2023, Freedom Fibre won a £24m Building Digital UK (BDUK) contract to "enable hard-to-reach communities to access lightning-fast gigabit-capable broadband". However in June 2024, it was revealed the firm was scaling back the target from 12,000 premises to 3,500.

It said BDUK was looking for an alternative supplier and it was looking to make infrastructure available.

Mr Walters, who has lived in Clive for more than 40 years, said they were told to expect great internet connections when Freedom Fibre won the contract.

He said work started about two years ago and the roads were closed several times, inconveniencing residents. Then in June "the work stopped".

Fibre optic cables have been left taped to telegraph poles

The retired magistrate wants to know how much of the £24m of taxpayers' money is left and when will residents get their improved broadband.

"I am really concerned about the financial aspect, we've got a roll of expensive cable here, what happens next", he said.

At home, Mr Walters said his own broadband speed was about 30 Mbps (megabits per second), but it drops at certain times of the day.

"People who are working from home are disadvantaged, because of unreliability and slow speed. We all thought we were going to have superfast speeds, what happened?"

Local Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan said the state of the poles summed up the situation with Project Gigabit and called for an explanation as to how many of the contracts were handed out to companies "who were unable to complete them".

"A new contractor is urgently needed to deliver the fast internet connections our communities need - and the poles need to be put to use or removed ASAP," she said.

Safe working practices

A spokesperson from Freedom Fibre said: "Following a mutual decision with BDUK, the remaining 8,500 premises have been descoped from the Project Gigabit programme.

"BDUK is actively progressing alternative arrangements to allow the build programme to continue in these areas.

"Freedom Fibre is supporting this transition and working collaboratively to make existing infrastructure available, where feasible, to help accelerate future delivery."

It said the company followed safe working practices and urged anyone with concerns about cables or equipment to get in touch.

In a statement, BDUK said discussions were under way with other suppliers to "connect the remaining premises in scope of these contracts as quickly as possible".