Super-fast fibre broadband has arrived in Whitburn
BT today announced that more than 3,200 households and businesses in Whitburn now have access to high-speed fibre broadband – and that this figure may increase as engineers from the company’s local network business, Openreach, complete the local upgrade.
The BT investment was welcomed by Councillor Cathy Muldoon, Executive Councillor for Development and Transport, West Lothian Council, who described it as great news for the towns.
Councillor Muldoon said: “Super-fast fibre broadband in Whitburn offers huge benefits to local residents and businesses and will help our local economy to flourish. Better, faster communications help businesses to grow and stimulate job creation. As well as this commercial investment by BT, West Lothian Council has invested an additional £2.5 million in the Super-fast Scotland programme to ensure that West Lothian has one of the highest levels of super-fast broadband coverage in the UK by 2017.
“The arrival of fibre broadband means local people and firms can do more online at faster speeds and on multiple devices. This is great news for many people in Whitburn and I look forward to fibre broadband being rolled out across the rest of the West Lothian area.”
Brendan Dick, BT Scotland director, said: “The arrival of fibre broadband in Whitburn is another important step in our roll-out of this exciting technology. More than 22 million homes and businesses across the UK now have access to fibre broadband using Openreach’s new fibre network via a range of broadband service providers, bringing speed and choice to the UK. Across the West Lothian area, which includes Armadale, Bathgate, Broxburn, Livingston Bridge, Livingston Station and Midcalder, more than 46,000 households and businesses already have access to fibre broadband. This figure will rise to 47,000 as BT continues to deploy its commercial roll-out.
“Whatever you’re doing online, you can do it better and faster with fibre. Whether it’s shopping, downloading music and video, watching TV, social networking, studying or researching homework, once you’ve switched to fibre you’ll never look back.
“Outside the home, it also has huge potential for public services and local firms. Reliable, high speed connections help small businesses with everything from day to day activities like downloading software, videoconferencing and moving large data files around to big decisions like recruiting or introducing new IT services.”
Openreach’s fibre broadband network is now available to around three-quarters of UK premises from a wide variety of 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 major investments in rural fibre broadband projects.
In Scotland, BT is investing around £126 million in fibre broadband partnerships with the Scottish Government, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Broadband Delivery UK), European Regional Development Fund and Scotland’s local authorities.
Further information about the Digital Scotland Super-fast Broadband project can be found at www.digitalscotland.org
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 20Mbps1 — and could deliver even faster speeds in the future.
Fibre broadband at home means everyone in the family can do their own thing online, all at the same time, whether it’s downloading music in minutes or watching catch-up TV; streaming HD or 3D movies in a few minutes; or posting photos and videos to social networking sites in seconds. Fibre improves the quality of online experiences and supports new developments in internet services.
Benefits for businesses include faster file and data transfers, better access to cloud computing services and software, more sophisticated web-based contact with customers and support for more flexible working.
Unlike other companies, Openreach offers fibre broadband access to all service providers on an open, wholesale basis, which underpins a competitive market and delivers real customer choice. For further information on Openreach’s fibre broadband programme visit www.superfast-openreach.co.uk
Note:
1These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
Due to the current network topography, and the economics of deployment, it is likely that some premises within selected exchange areas will not initially be able to access fibre-based broadband. Openreach is considering alternative solutions for these locations, which may also benefit from the local partnership activity outlined above.
ENDS
