High speed broadband on offer at Wisborough green farmers’ market
Better Connected West Sussex Broadband Project Makes High-Speed Broadband Available to around 10,000 Homesand Businesses
Wisborough Green is the latest West Sussex community to see the arrival of high speed fibre broadband - making online working, shopping and socialising easier.
Better, faster broadband has been made available to the village thanks to West Sussex County Council, BT and the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK initiative.
To celebrate, the West Sussex Better Connected team attended the village Farmers’ Market and Village Stores on Thursday 14 August.
A BT fibre broadband showcase van demonstrated the benefits of the exciting technology and staff from both West Sussex County Council and BT were on hand to explain broadband and answer questions.
Wisborough Green Stores owner Allan Self welcomed the arrival of high speed broadband in the village: “I think it’s terrific. We can now join the 21st century and enjoy what many have had for a while. I think it’s important that everyone locally knows about broadband and how to get it.”
The Better Connected West Sussex Broadband project has already made high-speed fibre broadband available to around 10,000 homes and businesses in Ashington, Billingshurst, Bosham, Fittleworth, Graffham, Kirdford, Petworth, Pulborough, Selsey, Sidlesham, Storrington, West Chiltington and now Wisborough Green.
Lionel Barnard, Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services at West Sussex County Council said: “It’s great news that Wisborough Green and the surrounding community can now be connected to high-speed broadband enabled by our exciting Better Connected project. We have real momentum now and across the coming months even more homes and businesses will have the opportunity to enjoy all the benefits of this exciting technology.”
Bill Murphy, managing director of next generation access for BT, said: “This is great news for Wisborough Green and West Sussex generally. Faster broadband will help local businesses grow, attracting inward 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 roll out of publicly-funded high speed broadband continues and the next exchange areas which are scheduled to provide access to high-speed fibre broadband services before the end of the year are: Birdham (covering East Wittering, West Itchenor), Bracklesham Bay (covering West Wittering), Burgess Hill, Bury, Chichester (covering Halnaker, East Lavant, Fishbourne and Westhampnett), Crawley, Eastergate, Haywards Heath and Houghton.
Additional surveys are being carried out to explore the feasibility of providing fibre broadband using alternative methods such as fibre to the premises (FTTP) broadband at exchanges in Ashington, Billingshurst, Petworth and Pulborough. Sutton exchange area is being surveyed for both FTTP as well as solutions for premises that are connected directly to their exchange on exchange only lines.
Better Connected is an exciting project to bring better, faster broadband to West Sussex, funded by West Sussex County Council, central government and BT.
The Better Connected West Sussex Broadband project will make superfast broadband available to more than 44,000 premises by spring 2016.
It 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 technology.
The multi-million pound partnership is jointly funded by the West Sussex Council, which is investing £6.26m and BT which is contributing £7.6m, with £6.26m coming from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funds.
The new fibre-based network is open to all broadband providers on an equal wholesale basis, so customers will have a choice of broadband suppliers. Households and businesses in West Sussex will therefore benefit from a competitive market, bringing greater choice and affordable prices 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 and development opportunities for households.
About Better Connected:
Better Connected is an exciting project to bring better, faster broadband to West Sussex.
West Sussex County Council has contracted with BT to build the necessary communications infrastructure to provide improved broadband services. The £20million project is being funded by West Sussex County Council, the Government and BT.
We aim for the majority of residents and businesses to be able to access fibre-based broadband speeds of 24Mbps by spring 2016.
The project builds on the continuing commercial deployment of better, faster broadband in the county and means that by spring 2016:
More than 90% of properties in West Sussex will have access to fibre-based broadband infrastructure of a minimum of 24Mbps.
All properties in the areas which are eligible for funding through the project should be able to access basic broadband speeds of a minimum of 2Mbps.
www.westsussex-betterconnected.org.uk
About Openreach
Openreach is responsible for the last mile of the UK access network – the copper wires and fibre connecting homes and businesses to their local telephone exchanges. Openreach provides communications providers with services and products associated with that network.
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.
www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk
