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Villagers revolt over BT chairman's broadband

BT chairman Sir Mike Rake has reportedly upset some of his neighbours in the Oxfordshire village of Hambleden, because he's got broadband and they haven't.

The locals have been waiting for service for five years, The Telegraph reports. Meanwhile, Sir Mike moved in about a year ago, and is already enjoying broadband thanks to his participation in BT's trial of Broadband Enabling technology (BET).

Openreach began a limited trial of BET, which it estimates costs about £3,000 per line, in May. The system is BT's version of SHDSL, a technology that uses different frequencies to normal ADSL to deliver broadband over longer distances.

BT claims BET will run a stable 1Mbit/s at distances of up to 12km from the exchange and is pitching for subsidies to install it in rural broadband "not spots".

Hambledenizen Gary Ashworth, who runs a recruitment firm, is reportedly unhappy that Sir Mike is participating in the trial.

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