Superfast Surrey fibre broadband project reaches more than 75,500 homes and businesses
Oxshott community celebrates project’s 500th fibre broadband cabinet
Superfast Surrey, a partnership between Surrey County Council and BT, today announced two major milestones in its roll-out of high-speed fibre broadband.
The partnership has made the high-speed technology available to more than 75,500 homes and businesses across the county and also installed its 500th fibre broadband cabinet.
The 500th cabinet is now ‘live’, the final one of seven cabinets served by the Oxshott exchange to be upgraded, and is providing fibre broadband access to 250 more homes and businesses in the village and surrounding communities. Residents can contact their broadband service provider to place an order.
David Cooke, chairman of the Federation of Oxshott Residents & Associations (FEDORA), said: “With the completion of this cabinet more than 1,400 additional homes and business in my local community are now covered by the fibre network and I’m delighted that Oxshott is able to host the project’s 500th fibre broadband cabinet. I have already connected to the fibre broadband service and have seen an increase in my broadband speed at home.”
Surrey County Council deputy leader Peter Martin said: "Reaching these milestones means that thousands more Surrey businesses and residents can enjoy the benefits of this high-speed technology in a way they would not have been able to otherwise. Now we'll press ahead with the rest of the project to reach areas not covered commercially. That is because the benefits are significant, with Surrey’s economy boosted by around £30 million annually and homes getting fast, reliable internet access."
Bill Murphy, managing director next generation access at BT, said: “This is excellent news for the residents of Oxshott and surrounding communities and another important milestone for the Superfast Surrey partnership which continues to make real progress. This popular technology can help households access on-line learning and entertainment at the click of a button, whilst businesses can become more efficient, grow and boost the local economy.”
The Superfast Surrey partnership aims to reach around 84,000 premises which fall outside the private sector’s commercial plans, including those of BT, which has already made the technology available to more than 370,000 Surrey homes and businesses.
In order to deliver the roll-out the Superfast Surrey project will:
- Deploy more than 391,800 metres of fibre cable - this is greater than the distance from Banstead to Blackpool!
- Upgrade more than 30 rural telephone exchanges across the county to fibre broadband which otherwise would not be covered by commercial plans.
- Install more than 600 green street-side cabinets and fibre structures, with 500 cabinets 'live' to date.
Engineers for Openreach, BT’s local network business, are building the new fibre broadband infrastructure. Fibre to the Cabinet will be the main technology deployed. This can deliver wholesale downstream speeds of up to **80Mbps, and upstream speeds of up to 20Mbps. Fibre to the Premises technology – delivering ultra-fast wholesale speeds of up to 330Mbps – will also be deployed in certain areas.
Notes to editors:
**80Mbps and 330Mbps are wholesale speeds. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) may use different speeds in their advertising. Individual line speeds will depend on network infrastructure and the service chosen by the ISP.
@superfastsurrey has more than 52,000 Twitter followers
To find out more about the programme and access the post code checker visitwww.superfastsurrey.org.uk
https://www.flickr.com/photos/107803477@N08/sets/
For more details about BT’s fibre broadband roll-out plans go to www.bt.com/furtherwithfibre
For further information
About Superfast Surrey
Superfast Surrey is a pioneering two year programme that aims to give consistent reliable broadband access to communities outside of the commercially served areas within the county.
Funded by the Surrey County Council, BT and BDUK (Broadband Delivery UK), and managed by a joint Programme team, Superfast Surrey is building a brand new fibre broadband network; it is a ‘Big Build’ that promises big wins.
Fibre broadband will change the way we use the internet, opening up new opportunities for businesses, communities and individuals. It will broaden horizons for everyone, unlocking the full potential of the internet so we can all achieve more.
Whether you’re looking to work from home, get access for your business or get reliable consistent access to the internet to ensure you can access the wide range services on online; superfast broadband could be for you.
About Openreach
Openreach is responsible for the last mile of the UK access network – the copper wires and fibre connecting homes and businesses to their local telephone exchanges. Openreach provides communications providers with services and products associated with that network.
About BDUK
Superfast Britain is a UK 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
