12
February
2015
|
23:00
Europe/London

More than nine out of ten Basingstoke homes and businesses can now get high-speed broadband

High-speed fibre broadband is now available to around 43,000 Basingstoke homes and businesses, meaning that more than 90 per cent of the town has access to the technology.* 

Demand for the service is also growing rapidly with some areas in the town already seeing more than 74 per cent of local households and businesses choosing to take it up.
When the fibre broadband rollout in Basingstoke is completed, 95 percent of people in the town will be able to get the high-speed technology as a result of BT’s commercial rollout and the Hampshire Superfast Broadband programme.
Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke, said: “Superfast broadband has become an essential for many Basingstoke residents and businesses and that is why we have some of the highest levels of take up in the country.
“Money from the Government and the council has meant our area has seen this technology made available more rapidly than would have been the case.
“Thanks to our local Councillors Hampshire is the first county in the country to insist on superfast broadband in all new homes “.
Bill Murphy, managing director next generation access at BT, said: “The arrival of fibre in more parts of Basingstoke is transforming the way households use the internet, from the simple sharing of pictures and video and on-line training and research to enjoying the growing boom in entertainment services available on-line.
“BT’s fibre network is expanding rapidly across the South East bringing a boost for local economies wherever it goes. Research suggests that within 15 years fibre broadband could bolster the economy of a typical town by £143 million and create 225 new jobs, 140 new start-up businesses and 1,000 more homeworkers1.”
Councillor Roy Perry, leader of Hampshire County Council, added: ”Hampshire County Council knows the benefits faster internet speeds can bring to local families and businesses, and our programme has already seen over 31,500 premises across the county given the opportunity to switch over to superfast broadband. By the end of the project more than 94,000 additional premises will have been enabled to access superfast services at a speed of at least 24Mbps.
“We have committed significant funds to ensure superfast broadband reaches as many premises as possible across Hampshire, including areas where normal commercial considerations by the broadband providers would not justify installation. My ambition is to see at least 95 per cent of homes with access to superfast broadband.”

Fibre quick facts for Hampshire:

  • Optical fibre is as thin as a human hair
    • Fibre is immune to corrosion
    • Fibre is made from high quality pressed glass, called silica
    • You can’t get a crossed line on fibre
    • More than 320 green street-side cabinets are being installed in Hampshire by end of 2015 as part of the Hampshire Superfast Broadband programme
    • Openreach, BT’s local network business, will be installing approximately 125 kilometres of fibre optic cable in the area by end of 2015 as part of the programme
    • 95% - The percentage of Hampshire homes and businesses that will have access to superfast fibre broadband by mid-2019

BT's open fibre network currently passes nearly 22 million homes and businesses. This means around three quarters of UK premises can order much faster broadband from a wide variety of internet service providers.
In total, BT is spending more than £3 billion on deploying fibre broadband, including £2.5 billion on its commercial fibre footprint and further funds in rural fibre broadband projects.
Openreach is primarily deploying fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) technology, where the fibre runs from the exchange to a local roadside cabinet. FTTC delivers download speeds of up to 80Mbps and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps2 — and could deliver even faster speeds in the future.


* The total number of homes and business across the county of Hampshire, including Basingstoke, that currently have access to fibre broadband thanks to BT’s commercial rollout and the Hampshire Superfast Broadband programme is over 664,000 (includes Southampton and Portsmouth).

1 Report by Regeneris Consulting – Boosting Business and the UK
http://www.btplc.com/Thegroup/BTUKandWorldwide/BTRegions/England/Factsandfigures/Superfast-broadband.pdf

2 These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.