Villages lead technology charge across Staffordshire
VILLAGES LEAD TECHNOLOGY CHARGE ACROSS STAFFORDSHIRE
More than twice as many households and businesses are reaping the benefits of the Superfast Staffordshire fibre broadband roll-out, as this time last year, lead partners Staffordshire County Council and BT announced today.
As the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out continues at pace, the percentage of customers opting for an upgrade has doubled from 12 per cent to more than 24 per cent in the past year – and the number is continuing to grow rapidly.
In some areas – including in some of the county’s smaller communities – more than half (50 per cent) of the customers able to access the fibre optic network have already chosen to upgrade.
The communities include: Abbots Bromley, Amington, Armitage, Branston, Church Eaton, Flash, Fradley, Hixon, Hopton, Sandyford, Trentham, Tutbury, Wheaton Aston and Yarnfield.
Other areas of Staffordshire where faster fibre broadband is proving popular include Kings Bromley and Yoxall, which were the first two communities to benefit from the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out.
It’s just over two years since Superfast Staffordshire - which is part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme - began connecting the first premises to the new fibre optic network.
Now around 88,000 households and businesses are able to access the technology as a result of the roll-out programme.
Staffordshire County Council’s economy leader, Councillor Mark Winnington, said: “The Superfast Staffordshire project has been a huge success and is making a real difference to communities now connected over the last two years. It is opening up opportunities for people and business across the county and means they do not get left behind just because of where they live or operate.
“It is hugely encouraging to see take-up doubling in the last year with the number of people continuing to grow. This project is further demonstration that Staffordshire is a connected county.”
Steve Henderson, BT’s regional director for broadband partnerships, said: “Every day we’re seeing how fibre broadband is changing people’s lives for the better, whether it’s a family wanting to connect several devices to the internet at the same time, for leisure or educational purposes, or people wanting to work from home.
“Superfast Staffordshire is a major engineering programme which is progressing well. Our project teams are working hard to ensure as many communities have access to the technology, as quickly as possible. When combined with BT’s own commercial roll-out, more than 465,000 premises across the county are now able to access faster fibre broadband.”
Residents and businesses can follow the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out via the website: www.superfaststaffordshire.co.uk
Notes to Editors
Superfast Staffordshire is deploying a mixture of technologies.
Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) provides download speeds of up to 80Mbps and download speeds of up to 20Mbps.
Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) provides superfast fibre broadband direct into a building, enabling the business or household to access download speeds up to 330Mbps and upload speeds of up to 30Mbps.
These are the top wholesale speeds available from BT’s local network business Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.
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Issued by Staffordshire County Council and BT.
For further information about this news release Tom Hobbins at the Staffordshire County Council press office on 01785 276832 or email: tom.hobbins@staffordshire.gov.uk
OrEmma Tennant at the BT Regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@bt.com Twitter: @EmmaTennantBT
All BT news releases can be read at www.bt.com/newscentre
Photos of the roll-out of Superfast Staffordshire can be downloaded for free from: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk1eZqD3
About Superfast Staffordshire
Superfast Staffordshire is a partnership between Staffordshire County Council, BDUK and BT. It builds on the commercial roll-outs in the county.
The first phase of the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out programme represents an investment of more than £27 million (£7.44 million from Staffordshire County Council, £7.44m from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK and £12.47m from BT.)
Staffordshire County Council will receive an extra £2.4m from BT following higher than expected take up of fibre broadband. This will be modelled in due course.
The new deal injects further funding into the County Council’s contract with BT, with a further £1.68m coming from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) and £630,000 from BT.
For those premises not included in the fibre footprint, Superfast Staffordshire is aiming to improve broadband speeds using alternative technologies.
About Superfast Britain
Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department for 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:
- £790m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017;
- £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities; and
- £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
About BT
BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in 180 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed-mobile products and services.BT consists of six customer-facing lines of business: Global Services, Business and Public Sector, Consumer, EE, Wholesale and Ventures, and Openreach.
For the year ended 31 March 2016, BT Group’s reported revenue was £19,042m with reported profit before taxation of £3,029m.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.
For more information, visit www.btplc.com
