29
November
2016
|
14:20
Europe/London

CSW Broadband roll-out brings broadband boost to more Warwickshire villages in run-up to Christmas

Summary
Parts of Farnborough, Fenny Compton, Flecknoe, Pailton and Tysoe are the latest to benefit from the CSW Broadband roll-out, which is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme, and spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council and BT. It will help people who use the internet for online shopping, catch-up television, streaming music, games and keeping in touch with loved ones.

The CSW Broadband partnership – led by Warwickshire County Council and BT – is spreading some seasonal cheer by making high-speed fibre broadband available to more of the county’s smallest communities in the run-up to Christmas.

Parts of Farnborough, Fenny Compton, Flecknoe, Pailton and Tysoe are the latest to benefit from the CSW Broadband roll-out, which is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme.

Elsewhere, households and businesses in Avon Dassett, Buckley Green, Monks Kirby and Stretton-Under-Foss are now able to access faster fibre broadband for the first time.

The wide-ranging benefits include:

  • High quality, speedy online access when connecting several devices to the internet at the same time;
  • Playing games, streaming music and watching catch-up television without any buffering;
  • Using the internet for homework, shopping and other services more quickly and easily;
  • Being able to quickly share large files and photos via email and over the internet.

Councillor Alan Cockburn, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Finance & Property at Warwickshire County Council, said: “The CSW Broadband project is making a real difference to the lives and working practices of people in some of the most rural parts of the county.

“Whether it is for work or for leisure, access to high quality broadband is often taken for granted by those who have it. However, where superfast broadband is not available people can find it extremely difficult to engage in today’s increasingly connected world. That inequality is exactly what this project is addressing.”

Colin Bannon, BT’s Regional Director for Warwickshire and the West Midlands, said: “At this busy time of the year, it’s especially great that more households and businesses are now able to access faster fibre broadband as a result of the CSW Broadband partnership.

“People who choose to upgrade to a fibre broadband service can expect a faster, more reliable internet connection. So whether you’re doing some Christmas shopping online, working from home, or using the internet to stay in touch with customers, colleagues or loved ones, all those things are easier, faster and better with fibre broadband.”

Warwickshire County Councillor, Philip Johnson, Chair of Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, said: “Once again we see that the CSW Broadband project is bringing superfast speeds to those areas that would never have been reached by the commercial roll-out of the broadband providers. That is because these locations are too remote to be economically viable without the intervention of a publicly-funded project.”

More than 56,000 premises now have access to faster fibre broadband as a result of the CSW Broadband roll-out. Updates on the roll-out are available from: www.cswbroadband.org

Because the fibre broadband network is being installed by Openreach – BT’s local network business – households and businesses can choose from a wide range of fibre broadband providers. They need to place an order with a provider in order to benefit from the service.

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Issued by Warwickshire County Council and BT on behalf of the CSW Broadband partnership.

For more information please contact Leigh Hunt at the CSW Broadband project office on 01926 738339 or email: broadband@cswbroadband.org.uk

Or

Emma Tennant at the BT regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@bt.com Twitter: @EmmaTennantBT

Note to Editors

Speeds referred to are the top wholesale speeds available from BT’s local network business, Openreach, to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

About CSW Broadband

The CSW Broadband roll-out is using a mixture of technologies. These include Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), which provides speeds up to 330Mbps and upload speeds of up to 30Mbps; and Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC), which provides download speeds of up to 80Mbps and download speeds of up to 20Mbps. In addition there are some premises that are currently connected directly to the telephone exchange rather than via a green roadside cabinet, sometimes known as Exchange Only (EO) lines. In order to connect EO lines, further roadside cabinets have to be installed.

The expansion of the CSW Broadband roll-out is known as Contract 2, Part 1, and was announced in February 2015. The deal was spearheaded by Warwickshire County Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, which are contributing an initial £3.68 million and £0.38 million respectively, with an additional £2.61m from BT and a further £4.06m from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Superfast Extension Programme (SEP).

When complete, it will increase the percentage of homes and businesses able to access high-speed fibre broadband in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire to nearly 94 per cent when combined with the first phase of the CSW Broadband roll-out already underway and the private sector investments of companies like BT.

The first part of the CSW Broadband roll-out is known as Contract 1.

As the property-level mapping is still in development, the CSW Broadband team is asking people to check the map at www.cswbroadband.org.uk and to report any discrepancies by using the simple online form.

About Superfast Britain

Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department for 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:

  1. £790m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017;
  2. £150m to provide high-speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities; and
  3. £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

    About BT

    BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services.BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Consumer, EE, Business and Public Sector, Global Services, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.

    For the year ended 31 March 2016, BT Group’s reported revenue was £19,042m with reported profit before taxation of £3,029m.

    British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

    For more information, visit www.btplc.com

    All BT news releases can be accessed at our web site: http://www.btplc.com/News