More Wiltshire communities and businesses now benefit from superfast broadband
More homes and businesses in Wiltshire now have access to superfast fibre broadband as a multi-million pound public and private sector partnership continues its roll-out
Fibre broadband is now available in Kington Langley, Bradenstoke, Purton, and Broad Hinton. Further areas of Royal Wootton Bassett have also gone live with fibre following the town’s initial switch-on in December last year.
This means more than 6,000 premises, including 500 businesses, now have access to the service as a result of the partnership. More than 10,000 homes and businesses in Wiltshire will be able to connect to fibre broadband by end of June 2014.
This work is part of a multi-million pound partnership between Wiltshire Council, South Gloucestershire Council and BT with additional funding from the UK Government’s Superfast Britain programme and the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF).
Building on the roll-out of commercial fibre broadband by the private sector*, the partnership aims to make superfast speeds of 24Mbps and above available to 91 per cent of premises in Wiltshire by the end of March 2016 while laying nearly 1,500 kilometres of fibre cabling and installing more than 300 new street cabinets to make it possible.
People also now have the opportunity to check the progress of superfast broadband being available in their community through a postcode checker on the Wiltshire Online website – www.wiltshireonline.org. They can simply enter their postcode into the checker and they will be given an update.
Cabinet member with responsibility for broadband, John Thomson, said: “This project continues to gather pace and I am really pleased with its progress.
“This roll-out will continue over the coming months and I look forward to more and more homes and businesses getting access to this vital service which I’m sure will make a big difference.”
Bill Murphy, managing director of next generation access for BT, said: “Today’s announcement is an important step forward for a multi-million pound partnership, which will help transform broadband communications in Wiltshire. This exciting technology will provide a major boost to the local area, helping businesses seeking to attract new customers and become more competitive or people using the internet for educational and leisure purposes. Whatever you do online you can do it faster with fibre broadband.”
If you want help with the basics of computers and the internet, Wiltshire Online has a team of digital champion volunteers across the county who are available to provide support - call Wiltshire Online on 01225 793349 to register for help.
For more information people should visit www.wiltshireonline.org
Notes for editors:
*More than 157,000 Wiltshire homes and businesses already have access to fibre broadband through BT’s commercial roll-out.
About Superfast Britain
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% 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
For political comment:
Conservatives: John Thomson – john.thomson@wiltshire.gov.uk
Liberal Democrats: Jon Hubbard - jon.hubbard@wiltshire.gov.uk
Labour: Ricky Rogers - ricky.rogers@wiltshire.gov.uk
Independents: Ernie Clark - ernie.clark@wiltshire.gov.uk
