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A friend of mine rolls his own broadband and sells to people in small-town Ireland. It is possible but the big companies don't want to know about it.
hippy-
Openreach's roll out is happening. Just really fucking slowly. We first tried before I came to London (c.2006). BT went as far as setting up the account, starting billing and sending out the kit. Loads of faffing about and an engineer said the signal was too weak.
Earlier this year I heard the nearest box got FTTC so tried again. Same result. They're stuck using a 3G dongle.
Mum has just retired and doesn't drive. Dad's just been diagnosed with MS so trying to up their connectivity for online shopping, speaking to grandkids and that.
3G dongle is ok-ish. Usually enough for the tesco shop but it craps out over skype when the wind changes direction. Next step is just buying them a dongle from three different providers and them just using whatever one has the best signal.
Admittedly it would be much easier (in MANY regards) if they moved into town but they're stubborn.
stevo_com
ma&pa_com live in rural Northern Ireland. It is still impossible for them to get broadband. Even when all the ISPs claim through their online check and the openreach tools I had at my last job said they could. Just too far from the exchange even though they're 20min from the capital city FFS!
But yet, a 15 year old from Bally-go-backwards down the road is still able to hack TalkTalk.