WHILE plans to bring wireless broadband to the town may have angered people living in North Swindon, those living in rural areas have welcomed the move.

Around 40 residents in the Chiseldon area have been taking part in a trial using technology supplied by UK Broadband, which has signed a deal with Swindon Borough Council to bring superfast broadband to areas currently without.

Around £1 million has been supplied by the council to fund the scheme, which has been matched by central government, and involves a box being attached to a house that picks up a signal from a nearby transmitter.

Many residents living in North Swindon are angry at the proposal, saying fibre optic is the best answer for their area.

But Paul Walton, of the Chiseldon Parish Council, says it has transformed how his family uses the internet.

He said: “It’s totally transformed what we can do. We were getting download speeds of 2mb but now it’s 45mb.

“It would take around two days to download a short film but now takes minutes. The box on the side of the wall is very unobtrusive and even in the high winds we’ve had that were bringing trees down it didn’t move.

“I know a lot of others in the village love it as well.”

The scheme is not just being used by residents but local businesses as well. Sandstorm, a video production company based Badbury, helps make adverts for some of the biggest companies in the world but prior to getting wireless broadband was considering moving back to London.

Jason Dollery, the marketing manager, said: “We moved out here, from London, to be near some of our clients.

“One of the downsides is obviously connectivity. We had a hashed solution using copper wires and satellites which meant we had times when we couldn’t use the internet.

“Being a global company this was a huge problem so getting wireless has been a game-changer for us.

“It’s been brilliant and we’ve had no issues. We were not be as efficient before this solution.”

Earlier this week, Will Harnden, the chief marketing officer of UKB, moved to reassure residents in North Swindon the deal with the council did not mean the end of a fibre solution, going as far to say it was the best option for the area in the long-term.

It is thought Virgin are considering moving into North Swindon but are wary with UKB also moving in.

North Swindon MP, who is pushing for a fibre solution, believes the UKB deal should be cancelled.

He said: “Fellow residents have been crystal clear in their demand for fibre, not this outdated, unreliable and expensive option.

“Fibire is sustainable, scalable and currently comes integrated with TV packages such as Sky and BT. Without these, any alternative is doomed to fail.

“We have been trying to make the council realise this and I appreciate every effort they are making to try and improve options for residents.

“Therefore we will continue to push BT and Virgin to come forward with a more appropriate solution.”