Business
Wessex in double data deal for lockdown By Karen Bate Blandford-based internet provider Wessex Internet, is doubling its data to customers on limited data tariffs for free during lockdown 2021. Thousands of residents, schools and businesses across Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire are being given a helping hand during the third lockdown with double data availability, free of charge in January and February. Hector Gibson Fleming,
managing director at Wessex Internet said: “This is a tough time of year for everybody, and due to the increasing number of people working from home, children who are home schooling, people who are shielding and businesses that are operating under difficult conditions it is anticipated that more data will be used during this period. We want to take the pressure off and – and give something back.”
The company, which provided the same offer during last year’s lockdown and is contacting its existing customers on limited data tariffs individually to inform them of the good news. Wessex is an independent ISP that uses its proprietary fibre network to deliver ultrafast broadband to Dorset, Wiltshire, Somerset and beyond. Wessex delivers community fibre schemes designed for villages, hamlets and areas
where traditional copper cables perform poorly and where the upgrade from copper to fibre was deemed uncommercial by the rest of the telecoms industry. The network consists of more than 150 wireless masts and over 1,500km of fibre delivering ultrafast fibre and wireless coverage to more than 3,500 customers. n Wessex Internet customer support: 0333 240 7997 wessexinternet.com
Hold their feet to fire over broadband
In our international design business, we save massively by not exhibiting at trade shows each year in North America, Europe and the Far East. We used to meet face-to-face to make excellent personal contacts. Conference meetings using Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meets are now universally accepted. Face-to-face meetings still have a vital role, but more sparingly. In normal years half our clients pass through London, the undisputed world financial centre. We can be Dorset to London and back in a day, and conduct all meetings in English. Productive hours have increased. Each meeting starts on the dot, and ends promptly. Documents, images and video clips are shared on screen. Much less time before and after is involved. We write up each meeting on computer immediately, before the next appointment. By ‘meeting’ with more people, we sift opportunities to concentrate on those where we can provide
greatest added value. During the covid crisis many of these ‘meetings’ are prospective sales meetings, but soon more will be live project meetings. Now is the time to speak with suppliers, contractors, professional associates in related disciplines, and contacts worldwide. At present they have more time to talk. We are using this time to know them better, learning what excites them most, and where we share values and aspirations. We want to stand out from our competitors, and rival purchasers when supply becomes limited. Despite no physical handshakes, we are getting to know each other sometimes better than snatched minutes on a trade booth. Once business resumes full-on, we expect to have more committed business relationships than ever. Exporting globally, a conference call costs the same anywhere in the world – no cost at all! The UK government has disgracefully retreated from its 100% Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) broadband commitment by 2025, to a soft ‘target’ of merely 85% – in practice typically much less than 85% in rural areas. The cost of fibre cable to every premises in North Dorset is the same as 700 metres of HS2 railway track. How dare they delay? Hold their
feet to the fire! We must lobby for 100% fibre broadband by 2025 across our rural economy, and then we shall be glad to report record profits to the tax authorities in the years ahead. We have to pay the same taxes as anyone else, and today
broadband is an essential utility! David Warburton MP, Andrew Murrison MP, Simon Hoare MP and Chris Loder MP, that means each of you! n Adrian Fisher is an award-winning maze designer in Durweston
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