Slow download times leave family of five fuming

David Vinnicombe, of Warwick Gates, said his home is one of under 100 houses on the estate connected to a green street cabinet that has not been upgraded to provide fast fibre optic internet.

Mr Vinnicombe, of Plantagenet Park, who shares the house with partner Jillian Whinfrey and three children aged 16, 18 and 20, said: “There are five computers in the house and not being connected to super fast broadband makes everything incredibly slow.”

The driver with Harbury bus and coach firm A and M Group said: “BT say this is uneconomical to upgrade as there are so few houses connected to it.

“Odd, seeing as BT own the cabinets and did the installations when the estate was built.

“I asked BT if it could re-connect my home to a different cabinet only a couple of hundred yards along the same road. Surprise, surprise, BT said no.

“When I asked if I could have a second phone line installed that was connected to a different cabinet, again BT said no. In this modern age it just seems ridiculous.”

The 52-year-old is also concerned that not being connected to fast broadband will put the house at a disadvantage compared to others.

“If at some point we decide to sell and we are asked if we can get BT Infinity and we can’t, but people down the road can, it’s going to affect people’s decision to buy ours or the one down the road.”

BT said a variety of commercial and technical factors are taken into account when determining whether a cabinet can be upgraded.

A BT representative met residents served by the street cabinet last summer to discuss ways in which they might be able to apply for government cash to get faster broadband.

BT said that whilst Openreach pledged to upgrade two-thirds of the UK’s premises, the Government recognised that it would not be commercially viable for any private business to upgrade the final one-third, therefore it introduced the BDUK programme, which enables local authorities to bid for funds from the Government and then choose a partner with whom to work with.

BT said it understood that Warwickshire County Council is keen to hear from people who want fibre broadband but don’t have it.