The latest unconfirmed information indicates that a BT OpenReach fault was not involved, despite earlier reports from service provider RW Internet of Lenwade. It is now suggested this may be due to a commercial issue between BT and RW Internet, although the latter is not answering telephone calls or emails that could confirm this or otherwise.
 
An emergency meeting will be held on Wednesday 11 June at 7.30 pm in Lyng Village Hall, reportedly involving the Parish Council, the district councillor and RW Internet, to hopefully explain what is happening.
 
However, an online statement said no representative from RW Internet would be attending this meeting as it had not been made aware of the date/time or location nor has it been invited to attend.
 
RW Internet's main website has been taken down, although extracts from its service blog pages have been published online.
 
Apparently, the problem with the wireless mast in Lyng began around 16 May. RW Internet suggested the problem was a break in the fibre optic cable and began working on a temporary solution.
 
Business users have been offered a free standard broadband connection, while all users with laptops, tablets or smartphones requiring urgent access are invited to use the WiFi at the company’s Lenwade offices, Darby’s Freehouse function room in Swanton Morley or The Sidings Bar/Marquee at Whitwell Station. RW Internet said all these locations are connected to its network and are not part of the service outage at Lyng.
 
On 20 May, the company said a section of cable needed to be replaced, adding that BT OpenReach had applied to Norfolk County Council to dig up a section of road to gain access to it. However, no updates have been posted since 30 May.
 
It is understood a temporary service became available in the last few days, but this connection is “incredibly slow”, according to one business user.
 
It is also reported that a notice has gone up on the door of One Way Circuits in Lenwade saying that no one inside works for, or is able to comment for, RW Internet.
 
Lyng is notorious in this part of Norfolk for having non-existent or very slow broadband access, as it is too far away from the nearest exchange in Reepham.
 
BT OpenReach is currently laying fibre optic cable between Fakenham and Reepham in preparation for high-speed broadband, which will include Lenwade, Great Witchingham and Lyng.
 
This service should be available later this summer, possibly in August for Lyng, where a large BT relay box recently appeared under the village sign.
 
Owing to the problems experienced, it has been suggested that Lyng will now get much faster broadband speeds than had been originally scheduled.
 
However, Karen O’Kane, programme director for the Better Broadband for Norfolk project, said: “Speeds will be on the same basis as any other fibre to the cabinet solution, which is dependent on the property’s distance from the cabinet, but I would expect most properties in Lyng to have access to superfast broadband (more than 24 Mbps).”
 
Parts of Cawston and Eastgate also have a wireless broadband service based on infrastructure supplied by Rapid Waters/RW Internet. However, Reepham Life has not received any reports of a service disruption in this area to date.
 

• The Better Broadband for Norfolk project aims to bring superfast download speeds to more than 80% of Norfolk’s premises and a useable minimum of 2 Mbps for all Norfolk’s premises by the end of 2015.