Superfast broadband for Macclesfield’s rural villages

Local residents in Gawsworth and nearby rural communities had the opportunity to see how they might be able to receive superfast broadband, through new wireless technology, at a drop in event in Gawsworth Scout Hall on Saturday 31^st October, which was also attended by Macclesfield MP, David Rutley.

The meeting, which was successfully organised by Gawsworth Parish Councillor, Matthew Hartley, provided local residents with the opportunity to meet representatives from Wythenshawe based company Vispa, which has developed alternative technologies to get superfast broadband speeds of up to 60Mbps, without using fibre technology. The well attended event also gave residents the opportunity to test drive the technology on their own laptops and tablets.

The event comes ahead of the Connecting Cheshire meeting on Friday 6^th November at Alderley Park Conference Centre, as more rural communities are set to receive access to Superfast broadband in the next phase of the nationwide rollout. While over 95 per cent of households will benefit fron this superfast fibre broadband, there are some rural communities that will still not be able to access this speed of service, which is why Vispa are hoping that its technology will help offer coverage for the harder to reach communities.

Speaking following the event, David said, “I would like to thank everyone who attended and helped to put this successful event together, in particular Cllr Matthew Hartley. The technology on show demonstrates an interesting potential solution to assisting harder to reach communities, such as Gawsworth. I look forward to raising the technology’s potential at the Broadband meeting on 6^th November, and would urge as many people to attend.”