Next communities to benefit from superfast Worcestershire broadband programme are announced
Mobile showcase will give county businesses insight into what faster fibre broadband can do for them
Superfast Worcestershire, the partnership between Worcestershire County Council and BT,
today (Tuesday) announced details of the next communities to get high-speed fibre
broadband as part of the £20 million infrastructure programme.
Belbroughton, Blakedown, Chaddesley Corbett, Clows Top, Cutnall Green,
Eckington, Elmley Castle, Great Witley, Hanley Swan, Hartlebury, Kempsey, Knightwick,
Leigh Sinton, Ombersley, Peopleton, Powick, Rock, Upton Snodsbury, Wichenford and
Wolverley are among the next communities to benefit from the technology for the first time. High-speed fibre broadband is due to be switched on in these communities between October and December.
At the same time the technology will be also made available in parts of Bewdley,
Kidderminster, Pershore and Stourport not previously enabled by any commercial
programme.
To coincide with this latest development, over the next week or so, businesses in
several areas of Worcestershire will be able to meet face-to-face with a member of the
Superfast Worcestershire team at a series of free roadshows organised by Worcestershire
Business Central.
The broadband element of the touring roadshow is supported by experts from the
Council and BT, who will advise local companies on the planned deployment and how using
faster fibre broadband can help them to gain new business and improve the way they work.
Any local small and medium-sized businesses are welcome to attend*.
More details on the Worcestershire Business Central Roadshow are available from:
www.business-central.co.uk
The Superfast Worcestershire partnership aims to ensure that high-speed fibre
broadband is extended to more than 90 per cent of Worcestershire businesses and
homes over the next three years.
It builds on BT’s commercial fibre roll-out, which will enable more than 176,000
premises across the county to access the technology by the end of this Spring.
In total, nearly 55,000 businesses and homes are set to benefit from the partnership
programme roll-out, once it’s completed.
Superfast Worcestershire is a partnership between Worcestershire County Council,
which has invested up to £8.5 million while BT which has invested £8.9 million. A further
£3.35 million is being invested by the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) arm of
DCMS.
Councillor Simon Geraghty, cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said:
“We recognised how important this vital infrastructure is to local people and businesses in
particular have told us the importance of knowing indicative timescales. I am glad that we
have been able to work with BT to be able to share as much information as possible.
“We will continue to share further details once they are confirmed, following
necessary surveying works, and in the meantime, would urge people to register at:
www.superfastworcestershire.com to be kept up-to-date.”
Mike Cook, BT’s regional director for the West Midlands, said: “Although this is a
huge engineering project, the roll-out continues to gather pace as the year
progresses.
“We’re committed to connecting communities as quickly as possible whilst of course
planning carefully to ensure we deliver the best value for money as part of our the
investment.”
Local people wanting updates on the fibre roll-out can visit the Superfast Worcestershire
website at: www.superfastworcestershire.com , visit the Facebook page and join the
conversation on Twitter #SuperfastWorcs.
Once an area has gone ‘live’ people will be able to order an upgrade
from a wide range of internet service providers as the network is open to all ISPs
on an open, wholesale basis, thereby ensuring competitive prices. It enables homes and
businesses to access download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second and uploads of up
to 20 megabits**.
Earlier this year, Superfast Worcestershire announced Ashton-under-Hill, Badsey,
Broadway, Cropthorne, Hallow and Harvington will be the first communities to benefit from
the partnership roll-out between April and September.
In addition, parts of the Malvern district, including a number of business premises on
Enigma Business Park, will be able to access fibre as a result of the partnership rollout,
which will also extend the availability of high-speed broadband to some areas of Evesham
and Worcester city centre not previously enabled by any commercial programme.
Note to Editors
*The mobile showcase will be visiting:
Wednesday, March 19 – 10am-3pm - Shire Business Park, Worcester; Thursday, March 20 – 10am-3pm - Hartlebury Industrial Estate and Sandy Lane, Stourport; Friday, March 21 – 10am-3pm - Hoo Farm, South Kidderminster; Monday, March 24 – 10am-3pm - Top Barn, Ombersley; Tuesday, March 25 – Aston Fields, Bromsgrove (9.30am-12 noon); Moons Moat South, Redditch (1-3.30pm); Wednesday, March 26 – 10am -3pm - Wyre Forest District Council offices, Kidderminster.
**These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
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Press Office Contacts
For more information please contact Worcestershire County Council please email:
commsunit@worcestershire.gov.uk or telephone: 01905 822058. For information about BT please contact the regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant.com
• Worcestershire County Council is contributing up to £8.5 million, with an additional £3.35 million coming from the from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) funds through the Superfast Britain initiative (please see below). BT is also contributing £8.9 million towards the overall cost of the Superfast Worcestershire deployment, having been chosen following an extensive and thorough selection process.
• Worcestershire County Council signed contracts with their preferred supplier BT on August 5, 2013. The partnership announced that high-speed fibre Broadband will be rolled out to more than 90 per cent of Worcestershire homes and businesses over 2014, 15 and beyond and that all remaining areas will receive broadband with a minimum speed of at least 2Mbps.
• Phase 1 of Superfast Worcestershire's programme is currently being surveyed with the network build commencing in April 2014 and connections being made during Summer 2014. The final detail for phase 1 will be known during the building phase and customers can order an upgraded Broadband service from Internet Service Providers whilst the phase is being built.
• Those who register on the Superfast Worcestershire website will need to enter a phone number and postcode to receive information and updates at a local level. Those who registered their demand will continue to be kept up to date on the programme and have the option of registering again to receive more local updates.
• 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
