02
February
2014
|
23:00
Europe/London

First communities to benefit from multi-million pound Coventry Solihull & Warwickshire superfast broadband programme are announced

Alderminster, Fillongley, Henley-in-Arden, Kineton, Quinton, Long Marston, Snitterfield and Welford-on-Avon are among the first areas to benefit 
The first rural communities to benefit from the £15.47 million superfast fibre broadband partnership for Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire were announced today by partners BT 
and Warwickshire County Council. 

From Spring 2014, superfast fibre-based broadband will start to become available for the first time in parts of Alderminster, Fillongley, Henley-in-Arden, Kineton, Quinton, Long 
Marston, Snitterfield and Welford-on-Avon. In addition, fibre will also ‘go live’ in areas of Stratford-upon-Avon and Wellesbourne not already enabled by any commercial rollout. 

Further updates about the rollout will be made in the coming weeks via council briefings and the CSW Broadband website: http://www.cswbroadband.org.uk where local 
people can also sign up to receive updates. 

CSW Broadband is a partnership between Warwickshire County Council and its five district and borough councils, with Coventry City Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough 
Council and BT. 

Since the partnership was announced last summer, engineers have been busy surveying the network in order to ensure rollout of the new technology is carried out in 
the most cost-effective and efficient manner. 

The project will build on BT’s on-going commercial investment in fibre across the area. The company has already pledged to bring faster fibre broadband to more than 1.7 million homes and businesses across the counties of the West Midlands by the end of this Spring – including nearly 400,000 premises in Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire - as part of its UK-wide £2.5 billion rollout. 

The CSW Broadband partnership will ensure that around 40,000 additional premises in the project area will have access to superfast broadband with download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second (Mbps) and uploads of up to 20Mbps*. 

The combined commercial and partnership rollouts will result in 91 per cent of the area’s homes and businesses being able to access superfast broadband. 

On completion of the CSW Broadband partnership rollout, all premises within Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire will be able to access a minimum of 2Mbps. 

The CSW Broadband programme is also actively seeking more funding to extend the availability of superfast broadband further across the remainder of the partnership area. 
Councillor Alan Cockburn, deputy leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “This is only the start of the rollout of a project that will take place over the next two years. The 
provision of faster broadband will make a real difference to the quality of people’s lives and to the competitiveness of our businesses. 

“Owing to essential planning and survey work this first announcement has been a while in coming. There is a lot of work to do to roll out the network over a relatively short period and people will really see things happening quickly now. 

“Additionally, the CSW Broadband team has been working to develop information showing proposed coverage down to postcode level, and this will be released very shortly.” 
Approximately 250 new road-side cabinets will be installed to enable people to connect to the new fibre optic network that is being laid. 

Bill Murphy, managing director of next generation access for BT Group, said: “This is a major engineering undertaking but work on the rollout has been progressing extremely 
well. 

“Today marks a very exciting step forward for these communities because they’re a step closer to being able to access faster fibre technology. 
“High-speed broadband can benefit everyone. Whether you’re a small business wanting to stay in touch with customers and suppliers, or parents with children using the 
internet for homework and playing games, whatever you do online, you can do it much better and faster with fibre broadband.” 

When fibre has ‘gone live’ in an area, people wanting to enjoy faster fibre broadband can place an order with an internet service provider (ISP) of their choice. There’s a 
wide range of ISPs to choose from as the network is open to all providers on an open, wholesale basis, thereby ensuring competitive prices. 

Ends 

Notes to Editors: 
*These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary. 
BT is contributing £6.57 million towards the CSW partnership rollout, whilst the partnership councils are contributing £4.45m - £3m from Warwickshire and the balance coming from other local authorities - with a further £4.45m coming from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme. 
The CSW Superfast Broadband Programme is in addition to – and separate from Coventry City Council’s ‘Super Connected Cities’ Programme. 
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 per cent 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 
About CSW Broadband 
CSW Broadband is a partnership of eight Local Authorities (Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire and the Boroughs and Districts of North Warwickshire, Nuneaton and Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Stratford on Avon). 
The project office is hosted by Warwickshire County Council and is based in Warwick. The project team can be contacted on 01926 738339 or broadband@warwickshire.gov.uk 
About BT 
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 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 principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Retail, BT Wholesale and Openreach. 
For the year ended 31 March 2013, BT Group’s reported revenue was £18,103m with reported profit before taxation of £2,315m. 
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 
About BDUK 
Superfast Britain is a UK 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