BT quotes pensioner £150,000 to get broadband
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BT has quoted a pensioner £150,000 to install a broadband line to her home in rural Wales.
The national telco contacted Beverley McCartney, who lives in Salem, Carmarthenshire, last week, the BBC reports.
It had previously told her it could not connect her home, but was pleased to say it now could for the bargain price of £129,613.54 plus VAT. BT said it would contribute £8,000.
A shocked Mrs McCartney said: "I phoned BT and said surely this is a typing error and the girl said, 'No, there's been no mistake, other people have had bills for much more than this.'"
Other houses in Salem, which is three miles outside Llandeilo, do have broadband, so the village isn't classified as a "not-spot" which would qualify for a Welsh Assembly subsidy.
BT spokesman Chris Orum defended the quote. "If it's just one individual person and it requires upgrading the network for one person, no company would cover that," he said. ®
COMMENTS
Re: Perspectives
@ bolccg and others
If it were a simple matter of this woman selfishly wanting an internet connection so she could download pr0n and warez, then fair enough. However its not that simple.
Existing without an internet connection is becoming vanishingly difficult. Add into the fact that banks have largely closed their rural operations, because so many people can do everything on-line and it becomes apparent that *we* all benefit from this move - we have supposedly cheaper banking and more efficient delivery of services, which should (in theory at least) result in reduced costs.
The problem is that people like this woman lose out on every count. To subidise the city dwellers dependency on doing things "on-line" she loses out access to banks (sticking with that example). So we all benefit from her not having a local branch - what does she get?
It may well be that a common theme in this country is that others should pick up the tab, but this is vastly outweighed by the variation theme that if I am all right everyone else can fuck off. Its ironic how the two are related...
Agreed
I live in the countryside and I'm grateful I never have to listen to jazz anymore, I don't know how you put up with it.
Tosser
Not everyone has the choice of where to live.
And, BTW, people in the country cross subsidise stuff for people in the cities - we pay the same taxes for generally less benefit (e.g. council tax in Cambridge vs outlying villages is the same).
You wank stains in the cities, you should really try to be less selfish, and, just for a change, think about what you write before spouting off.
Mind you, I get 8MB BB no problem where I live, right out in the sticks. So Nah Nah. That's probably better than most city dwellers. Ha Ha Bwahhhhahahha. And I have a nice view, decent house, garden and peace and quiet. Pity there are no shops, no public transport, knackered roads, no ER within 30 minutes, no police around (ever). Still, we havent had too many deaths by stabbing. So that's OK then.
Few, that's better. No idea what started that off....
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