Broadband, Landlines and Mobiles
Broadband
Whilst the BT website suggests the majority of residential properties in Buckland can now sign up for download speeds of up to 900Mb, we do have some residents who are not being offered anything better than a guaranteed download speed of 3Mb and a surprising number, located fairly centrally within the parish and on a bus route that are still not being offered anything better than a guaranteed download speed of less than 15MB.
Buckland Parish Council is interested to hear from anyone who is struggling with slow broadband speeds. A recent update from Surrey County Council alerted the parish council to the government having extended the target date for providing fibre to the home to all residential properties from 2025 to 2030 and to a weakening of the targeted 100% provision in recognition that there are now expected to be a small number of “Very Hard to Reach Properties“ that will be difficult to serve.
If you have been trying (without success) to sign up to faster broadband speeds, please share your experience with the parish council by replying to this update to ensure we understand what challenges are being encountered in Buckland.
To contact Buckland Parish Council please use our contact form.
Landlines
In the past Landline phone calls have traditionally been delivered via a copper wire network which remained available for residents to use during power cuts as it had its own back up power supply.
Current plans are for landline calls to be delivered using digital technology called Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), a method which uses broadband connections. Although the planned completion of the switch over is due by the end of 2025, the move to VoIP has already started to happen for customers who upgrade their broadband package or move house.
If you are contacted by your broadband supplier to advise you are being switched from an analogue service to a digital service you need to recognise that a phone connected to a broadband router will not work in a power cut unless you have a backup power supply.
If you do not have a mobile phone signal in your home, are unable to use a mobile phone or simply do not own a mobile phone you need to ensure your broadband provider is made aware of this before they switch your service. The government has made it clear to broadband suppliers that they must make sure you are able to contact the emergency services during a power cut. Your supplier has a number of different options to achieve this, e.g. they may provide you with a battery back-up to enable your router to continue working so that your landline can continue to work, or they may opt to give you a basic mobile phone to use in this situation.
If you have any devices in your home that use your analogue phone line such as a burglar alarm, cctv system or support devices for independent living please speak to your service provider as soon as you can to ensure you understand what options you have to future proof your devices in readiness for the switch from analogue to digital.
If you use BT, here is a link to the latest information on the BT website about the move to Digital.
Mobile phones and tablets
As the strength and reliability of mobile phone signal varies across the parish you may find it helpful to use the Ofcom mobile checker before signing up to a particular network.