Cancer patient misses check-ups in ‘cut off’ village

John Bowler has missed hospital appointments because emails have not reached him

A deaf cancer patient in a remote village with no internet or mobile phone signal says he has missed medical appointments because hospital emails did not reach him in time.

John Bowler, 74, a former architect, is a resident in Llangwm near Usk, Monmouthshire, where residents say the issue is causing a number of difficulties.

Local people also said there is no Instagram, Netflix or home-working in their “cut off” village.

The internet provider Voneus said the infrastructure it acquired from the previous provider “did not meet our high standards and we are now investing significantly to upgrade the network”.

Mr Bowler, 74, said he found it very difficult to use the phone because he is deaf, so relied on emails to speak to his family and doctors.

"The internet is particularly important to me. I’m exceedingly deaf and have other health issues, and have lots of hospital appointments - most of those I arrange by email,” he said.

“I miss the appointment if I’m not careful," he said, adding he had "missed a few hospital appointments".

Mr Bowler had his right ear removed during cancer surgery, which he said “needs a lot of following up”.

He also uses a hearing aid attached to his skull that needs regular maintenance.

"We’re particularly cut off because our neighbours are half a mile in any direction and we’re 300 yards from a road - so you can go days without ever seeing anybody," he said.

"I’ve had several heart attacks. I can’t exactly run to a neighbour if I’m here on my own."

Other residents spoke of having to climb a nearby hill - night and day - to make phone calls.

Residents in Llangwm said the internet was sporadic - sometimes working, but sometimes not.

The small village - with buildings dating back to the 12th Century - lies among rolling hills three miles (4.8km) east of Usk.

Ceri Williams now gets the internet through a satellite dish because it was so unpredictable before

Just down the hill from Mr Bowler, Ceri Williams lives with her family.

She was so fed up being cut off under the previous broadband provider, she decided to buy Starlink, an Elon Musk-owned company that provides the internet through a satellite dish.

"We would have no connection. I was working from home, my daughter was in college. She couldn’t access the internet, neither could I - it was an absolute nightmare," she said.

"I’d have to walk up to the top of the garden to get 4G signal, or drive into town," she said.

She said her children found it difficult to access their schoolwork online during the pandemic.

However, Ms Williams said even her new satellite internet only works effectively on one side of the house, because it is blocked by trees.

Despite the new satellite, during BBC Wales' visit to Ms Williams' front room, it took about a minute to load the BBC News website on her phone.

“We got to the point where my son couldn’t play his games, his Xbox. My daughter being 18, she couldn’t contact her friends”, she said.

Jay Coleman finds it difficult to run his businesses because of his poor internet

Jay Coleman, who lives up the road, said: "It’s very, very, very slow.

"The entire village goes down - I find it virtually impossible to work," he said, adding that he also struggles to access Instagram and Netflix.

"From a Thursday through to the Monday we’re without the internet, without any form of contact to the outside world."

He said he sometimes had to drive into town "at silly o’clock at night" to get reception.

Mr Coleman added trying to get hold of Voneus "is virtually impossible".

Voneus said it recognised “the issues with our communication and customer service in this area, and we sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused”.

Mr Coleman said the older generation in the village were often "stuck".

He runs an estate agency and a holiday let business, but recently had to refund a large booking because the guests complained about the lack of internet and phone service.

He said the party "had no way of getting out of the village to make calls and tell people where they were", adding he had to take them into town so they could make calls.

"Unfortunately, we had to refund almost 90% of their stay," Jay said.

"It was an absolute farce."

Voneus said it had been “working hard to improve the network in Llangwm”.

“We greatly appreciate the community’s patience and understanding whilst we continue to upgrade the network, and we are confident that the changes we’re making will result in a stronger, more dependable network for everyone in the community,” they said.