‘Fibre' broadband is now one of Grocer's five-a-day
More than 55,000 further West Sussex homes and businesses have access to faster broadband thanks to multi million pound partnership
The village of Wisborough Green in West Sussex is enjoying the benefits of high-speed fibre broadband with nearly half of all homes and businesses taking up new services.
One local business owner has hailed the “amazing” faster internet speeds.
Alan Self, of Wisborough Green Stores, said: “I was one of the first to be connected and I get an amazing download speed of 70Mbps. My tills are connected to the internet, I order my stock online and I’m also looking into taking orders from customers online as well.
“There are also no more family arguments about who is going to use the internet anymore, as everyone can get online at the same time. Fibre broadband has rapidly become one of our five a day for us.”
Better, faster broadband became available to the village thanks to the Better Connected West Sussex Broadband partnership between West Sussex County Council, BT and the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK initiative. Nearly half of the villagers have already taken up the faster broadband service.
Across the county, the multi million pound Better Connected broadband partnership has already made high-speed fibre broadband available to more than 55,000 homes and businesses in West Sussex.
David Barling, cabinet member for Residents’ Services at West Sussex County Council, said: “The aim of the Better Connected project has always been to bring better, faster broadband to West Sussex and it is fantastic to see the Wisborough Green businesses and community continuing to benefit.”
Stacey King, BT’s regional partnership director for the South East, said: “We’re delighted that high-speed broadband has been a success for Wisborough Green. Faster broadband has proved that it helps local businesses grow, attracting investment and boosting the local economy. Fibre broadband is also an integral part of everyday life as people interact more frequently with the internet for transactions, social engagement and education.”
The Better Connected project builds on BT’s on-going commercial fibre deployment across the county, which has already given more than 300,000 homes and businesses access to the high-speed fibre technology.
West Sussex Council is investing £6.26m in the project, BT £7.6m and the government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme £6.76m.
The new fibre-based network is open to all broadband providers on an equal wholesale basis, so local households and businesses can benefit from competitive products and pricing from a wide range of broadband providers.
The technology will boost the competitiveness of local businesses, helping them to find new customers and operate more efficiently, whilst opening up a host of new learning, entertainment and development opportunities for households.
