Health Upgraders

In a successful appeal from the residents of Muswell Hill area of London, the London Borough of Haringey has ordered stalling of work on BT’s trial of an advanced high-speed broadband network using optical fibres in the area. The appeal was made to the Borough when residents’ protests against installing cabinets meant for providing the network went unnoticed by BT.

The residents registered their dissatisfaction as the 1.8 meters tall cabinets to be installed on pavements would not only have obstructed opening of car doors in the parking area but also hindered movement of pedestrians. The treasurer of Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Association John Crompton said that the cabinets were of unreasonable height and higher than most of the compound walls of the area.

In his statement to The Times, Crompton said that the residents were forced to appeal because BT had already begun installation of its cabinets. He was supported by the spokesperson for the Haringey council, who said that BT was in effect using technology to create problems instead of finding a solution to them. He also pointed out that one of the major concerns of the residents was that the installation plan had not been approved by authorities.

BT is now trying to install smaller cabinets and planning to launch the scheme in areas like Edinburgh or Manchester. However, BT