Sleepy English Seaside Resort Catapulted
into Internet Fast Lane
It has been dubbed the town that time forgot, and has been the
butt of music-hall jokes for decades, but Frinton-on-Sea (”Dover for the
continent, Frinton for the incontinent”), the epitome of the genteel English
seaside resort, has been selected as one of 41 towns across the U.K. to receive
superfast broadband access.
Superfast
broadband in Frinton-on-Sea? This is the Victorian resort famed for not
embracing the future. It took 101 years before the first fish-and-chip shop was
allowed to open.
The town only
got its first pub in 2000, and that in the face of staunch opposition. In the
reported words of one activist the decision to open the Lock and Barrel pub
marked “the worst day in Frinton since the Luftwaffe beat up the town in
1944″.
It is a sleepy
town on England’s east coast, popular with retirees. According to the U.K.
Office for National Statistics, 46% of the population of 4,168, are pensioners.
The top story in the local community newsletter reports that the Philatelic
Society members “had a restful Christmas break after a well-attended and busy
auction on the December 13″.
Ian Smith, who
runs an estate agency and property management company on Frinton’s main street,
was surprised that the town had been chosen: “This is really a retirement town.
Hand on heart; I can say that no one has ever asked me what broadband speed is
in the town. I don’t even know myself.”
The
largest employer is the local school
Malcolm
Boucher, secretary of the Frinton Golf Club (founded, 1895, “No denim clothing,
tracksuits or shell suits should be worn either on the courses or in the
clubhouse”), was indignant at the suggestion that Frinton was living in the
past: “There are lots of small businesses here who would benefit from this. We
use the internet, as do other organizations, like the tennis club. And a lot of
our members have email. We have one lady member who is over 100 and she uses
email.”
Whatever
broadband speed the town currently has, from 2012, Mr. Boucher and the other
5,000 residents, some half of whom are reported to be of retirement age, will
be able to get speeds of up to 40Mb/s.
When asked why
Frinton, a spokesman for BT, the U.K. provider, said in an email: “The key
factors considered were economics, predicted take-up of fibre service (linked
to communications provider interest), predicted performance of the FTTC
technology, and indicative levels of support and interest from local and
devolved government. We have worked very closely with industry and with local
authorities to choose these sites.”
Although not
that closely. Councillor Robert Bucke, was surprised: “Oh, that’s news to me,
and I am the mayor.”
He was
optimistic that the super-fast broadband would draw people to the town: “Most
of the businesses here are small, employing fewer than 20 people.” The largest
employer in the area, he said, was the local school.
Some 40 other
towns were also announced, serving around 300,000 businesses and consumers
across the U.K. Super-fast broadband, using fibre-to-street cabinets, offers
much faster download speeds of up to 40Mb/s, potentially rising to 60Mb/s, and
upstream speeds of 10Mb/s, which could rise to 15Mb/s in the future. BT is also
trialling fibre-to-the-premises broadband services, at download speeds of up to
100Mb/s.