Jurassic connectivity for new Jurassic Coast museum

According to the project leaders, a new museum being built as a showcase for Dorset’s Jurassic Coast – a World Heritage site – and its abundant fossil record of Earth’s ancient past will be lumbered with internet connectivity with speeds slower than a nerve signal transmitted from the end of a brontosaurus’ tail to its brain.

Yesterday’s Western Daily Press reports that the UK government has notified project leaders for The Etches Collection Museum in Kimmeridge (est. population 100) that it is not prepared to fund any kind of broadband internet connections or mobile phone reception for the museum or its visitors.

The museum will provide a permanent home for the world-class collection of fossils discovered by collector Steve Etches.

The museum is being built by The Kimmeridge Trust – a registered charity – which has secured lottery funds of £2.5 mn. towards the project. However, their aspirations of a ‘totally immersive’ museum with high-tech displays seem to be in doubt since the Trust cannot afford the thousands of pounds required to put a proper broadband connection into the village, which currently has to endure speeds of around 250Kbps.

Furthermore, the government has told the Trust that it cannot use any of the lottery funds to improve connectivity as the village is on a list of remote Dorset villages that would be part of the alleged ‘superfast’ broadband roll out being funded by the state.

Quasi-monopoly provider BT is prepared to install fibre broadband at a cost of around £150,000, whilst another option from Wessex Internet comes in at £60,000.