With still no telephone connection in sight for some half of Ardentinny’s residents and businesses, BT today declared an MBORC (Matters Beyond our Reasonable Control) notice. In what way this will assist those affected remains to be seen.

In a strongly worded email (*see below) today to Ian Shanks, Head of Scottish Affairs at BT and Brendan Dick, Director BT Scotland, Michael Russell MSP expressed his surprise at BT’s response to the unacceptable situation and requested a clear timeframe to rectify the faults.

BT has reported that there had been considerable damage to the network in the area and that Scotland has had over 6,500 faults caused by the adverse weather.  We understand that extra engineers have been drafted in from other parts of the country. However, @BTCARE said this evening that they could not commit to a (completion) date.

*Dear Ian

I am a bit surprised that my office is having such difficulty getting a response from you about the above that we have now had to initiate direct communication with the office of the Chairman of BT in London, which are turning out to be much more responsive.

However, using all the channels available to me, I am writing to you as well to express my concern that today BT escalated the difficulty by declaring the situation one which was MBORC , an acronym with which I was not familiar but which apparently means that it is beyond your reasonable control.

Whatever that signifies, the fact is that Ardentinny has been without phones since the 3rd January. That is simply not acceptable and must be rectified. I look forward to an urgent response that tells me you and BT agree and gives a clear time frame and method for that happening.

I am also copying this to Brendan Dick who I hope might also express concern and act on it.

Regards

Michael