Religion the saviour for Cornish superfast broadband

From ISP Review 06/08/12:

The coastal fishing village of Polperro in Cornwall […] which has so far been unable to benefit from the massive £132 Million “Big Build” scheme to roll-out BT’s superfast broadband services around the region, has finally found a solution after the local Methodist Church stepped in to help.

Yay!!  Just cause for a rock-around-the-pulpit me thinks! 

Polperro’s layout is similar to a number of fishing villages along the coast. It is built into the side of a hill and features very narrow roads with a distinct “lack of pavements“. As a result BT Openreach were unable to locate any suitable locations to build the new street cabinet for their superfast Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) service.

Goodness me! Let’s not get an overblown idea of BT’s abilities; they couldn’t find their own bum’oles in a power cut, never mind suitable locations to build street cabinets.

And while we’re on it, I’ve never liked the FTTC acronym; “Fibre-to-the-cab” is much catchier, more meaningful and is only one syllable more.

And let’s not start knocking Cornish fishing villages for having beautiful quaint old streets. Ah good – we’re not.

Mark Morris, Manager BT Openreach, commented:
“Polperro is a beautiful village, but the narrowness of the roads and the lack of pavements made it impossible to find a roadside location for a new cabinet. Without this equipment, there could be no high-speed broadband in Polperro.

So we started talking to Polperro Methodist Church in the hope that they would allow the equipment to be installed in their church yard. It was really the only location which was viable. Thank heaven, they were tremendously helpful and allowed us to go ahead.”

Praise the Lord for common sense prevailing, I say. Good job. (And I’m including BT in that – credit where it’s due and all that!).

Let’s just hope the laying of fibre doesn’t result in any inadvertent exhumations! 

As the cabinet’s going to be in the church, I wonder if the workmen can benefit from the free-flowing refreshments at the women’s guild meeting while they’re installing it.  Digging’s thirsty work, and besides, everyone knows members of the WI love nothing more than ogling a bit of workman’s booty crack over their morning coffee.