Christmas present for Surrey village as superfast fibre broadband arrives
Warlingham will get access to
high-speed fibre broadband before Christmas
News welcomed by County Council leader David Hodge
Superfast Surrey is delivering a Christmas present to the Surrey village of Warlingham, as the first fibre broadband cabinet serving the community is being switched on today. Initially more than 200 homes and businesses in Warlingham will have access to high-speed broadband before Christmas. The majority, more than 3,000 Warlingham and Whyteleafe homes and businesses, are also set to get access to fibre broadband by early next year, with connection speeds of up to 80Mbps available. The £35 million Superfast Surrey partnership between Surrey County Council and BT aims to make fibre broadband available to more than 99% per cent of Surrey homes and business by the end of 2014. It builds on BT’s own commercial roll-out of fibre broadband in the county which has already made the sophisticated technology available to more than 371,000 premises in the area.
David Hodge Surrey County Council Leader and County Councillor for Warlingham, said: “This is great news for local businesses and residents as we continue to make Surrey the UK’s best connected county. The benefits of having high-speed internet access are huge, with an additional boost of around £30 million to Surrey's economy annually from helping firms trade online. It is also vital for all Surrey communities to have fast, reliable internet access so they don’t get left behind.”
Local Warlingham resident Chris May, who works as an IT specialist for an airline, is excited about today’s announcement. Chris said: “I’m looking forward to a faster, reliable broadband service and I’ll be one of the first in line to sign-up to the new speeds. I use the internet to work from home occasionally, especially when I’m unable to commute when the village has bad weather. I also use the web to help with admin at the weekend, as I’m a volunteer for a local dog rescue charity. As well as using online banking, I use Skype and email regularly to stay in touch with my partner in the Netherlands.”
Kim Mears, director of next generation access for Openreach, BT’s local network business, said: “This investment in fibre broadband will boost the local economy, helping to create and protect local jobs in communities like Warlingham and Whyteleafe, and across the whole of Surrey. It will be of enormous benefit to local businesses as they will be able to use the faster speeds to improve their competitiveness both within the UK and abroad.”
BT was chosen as the private sector partner in the project following an extensive selection process by the county council. The county council is contributing £20 million, towards fibre deployment in “non-commercial” areas, while BT is contributing £13.9 million and a further £1.3 million is coming from the share of BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK) funds.
At home, fibre broadband enables a family to simultaneously download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the internet and play games online all at the same time. Businesses of all sizes can take advantage of new ‘cloud’ services and high quality video conferencing, whilst computer back-up, storage and processing will be faster.
Notes to editors
80Mbps is a wholesale speed. ISPs may use different speeds in their advertising. Individual line speeds will depend on network infrastructure and the service chosen by the ISP
About Superfast Surrey
Superfast Surrey is a pioneering two year programme that will give consistent reliable broadband access to everyone outside of the commercially served areas within the county, making it one of the best connected places in the world.
Superfast broadband will change the way we use the internet, opening up new opportunities for businesses, communities and individuals. It will broaden horizons for everyone, unlocking the full potential of the internet so we can all achieve more.
Whether you’re looking to work from home, get access for your business or get reliable consistent access to the internet to ensure you can access the wide range services on online; superfast broadband could be for you.
www.superfastsurrey.org.uk
BDUK
Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements:
• £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services
Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.
For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk
