Superfast Dorset celebrates another major milestone as historic village welcomes in the New Year with superfast broadband
Superfast Dorset celebrates another major milestone as historic village welcomes in the New Year with superfast broadband
Multi million pound partnership now more than 80 per cent towards its goal of reaching 90,000 homes and businesses by end of 2017
Spanish teacher Becka Soliveres and her family enjoyed all the benefits of faster broadband for Christmas and the New Year after rural Moor Crichel became the latest village in Dorset to access superfast fibre broadband thanks to the Superfast Dorset partnership. The partnership has now made fibre broadband available to more than 72,000 Dorset households and businesses – over 80 per cent of the way towards achieving its goal of reaching 90,000 Dorset premises by the end of 2017.
The new fibre broadband cabinet between Moor Crichel and Witchampton is the 400th to be installed in the county. It serves Moor Crichel and Primrose Hill, where Becka lives with her husband Jose and three children.
She said: “We were really excited to get superfast broadband in time for Christmas and are looking forward to getting the most out of our new 38Mbps connection in 2016. Everything online is loading really fast now and runs without freezing all the time. Faster speeds mean that my eldest daughter can be doing her college work at the same time that I’m watching a film with my husband and the children are playing games on their tablets.
“I use Skype to teach Spanish and the broadband used to freeze three or four times in an hour during a lesson. I thought it was inevitable for such a rural area. We keep hearing on the TV that superfast broadband won’t reach rural communities, so I was so excited and relieved I could get fibre broadband here. I won’t have to keep apologising for my poor broadband speed to my students.”
Local county councillor Steve Butler said: “Superfast Dorset continues to make a difference to people like Becka, bringing 21st century communication to some of the more rural corners of the county. Completing the 400th cabinet is a great milestone to reach as we see in 2016, and as the year progresses, even more people will be able to access the benefits."
Paul Coles, BT’s regional manager for the South West, said: “It is great that rural communities like Moor Crichel are now able to experience the many benefits of superfast broadband. This exciting technology is transforming the way we live and work. Whether you are starting a business, learning online or just browsing the internet for bargains, you can do it more effectively and faster with fibre broadband.
“When the work of Superfast Dorset is included with BT’s commercial fibre broadband programme, it means that about a third of a million Dorset households and businesses can already place an order for fibre. The Superfast Dorset rollout is a huge engineering undertaking, which is currently ahead of schedule. It is transforming the lives of local residents and the opportunities for local businesses.”
The number of households and businesses in the county which can get faster, more reliable broadband as a result of the project is growing every week. To check if you can get it, visit www.dorsetforyou.com/superfast, where you can also sign up for regular updates and an email when fibre is available in your postcode. Speeds don’t improve automatically, you need to contact your service provider to order a fibre service.
ENDS
Notes to editors
Speeds quoted are the top wholesale speeds available from BT’s local network division Openreach to all broadband service providers; speeds offered by service providers to customers may vary.
About the Superfast Dorset project
Superfast Dorset is a partnership between BT, the Department of Media, Culture and Sport (DCMS), Dorset County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council, the Borough of Poole, Christchurch Borough Council, East Dorset District Council, North Dorset District Council, Purbeck District Council, West Dorset District Council and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council.
Partner contributions, including additional funding for the Marshwood Vale, the second contract, announced in June 2015 and Dorset councils’ contribution to ensure the benefits of the infrastructure are realised:
DCMS - £11.7 m
BT - £13.29 m
Dorset councils - £12.3 m
Breakdown of Local Authority allocation:
- Dorset County Council - £8,633,473
- West Dorset District Council - £1,487,207
- Christchurch Borough Council - £100,044
- East Dorset District Council - £347,434
- North Dorset District Council - £843,475
- Purbeck District Council -£437,614
- Weymouth & Portland Borough Council - £153,093
- Bournemouth Borough Council - £70,495
- Poole Borough Council - £227,490
Further information is available from www.dorsetforyou.com/superfast.
