Many of you will have noticed various vans along the roads installing cabling. The current installation is of fibre optic cable, running from Stowmarket, to Haughley and then via Haughley Green to Bacton. For the next stage, this needs to be connected up to the cabinets for improvements in line speed.
A planning application has been made to install a new cabinet just round the corner from the existing cabinet next to the bus shelter in Haughley (next to 2 Station Road). This cabinet serves most of Haughley and Haughley Green. I understand that that this cabinet will be fibre-enabled and, once in place and “live”, will greatly enhance broadband services in the area.
There is no date for this work (the application goes before Haughley Parish Council next week) and in a similar situation it was some months between installation of the cabinet and the fibre becoming operational – however a step in the right direction!
With regards to the Suffolk-wide Better Broadband project, I have raised our concerns that properties on the edge of Haughley and in Haughley Green may be at risk from not being part of the project nor benefit from the BT investment. I’ve been told that these concerns have been “taken on board” and will be included in the contract discussions. In the meantime I understand Suffolk County Council is still waiting on the EU decision as to how the public funds can be used.
Rachel Eburne 