Wind of change in Pipewell as villagers look forward to superfast speeds
Villagers in Pipewell, near Rothwell, are looking forward to superfast download speeds when fibre broadband arrives later this year.
People living there took matters into their own hands and approached BT for help after years experiencing slow speeds.
They raised enough money, including getting a grant from the New Albion Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund[1], to sign a contract with BT to jointly fund the costs of making fibre available.
Work will be carried out by Openreach, BT’s local network business, which is also contributing financially to the ‘Community Fibre Partnership’. And with the wind now firmly at their backs, the new technology should be ready to use by the end of 2017.
Local resident Amanda Vesty, who helped lead the community campaign, said: “Our village is fairly remote and has suffered from a relatively poor telephone and broadband service. With the assistance of BT, Northamptonshire Community Foundation (New Albion Wind Farm Fund) and the Government’s Better Broadband Scheme, we are looking forward to being able to connect to fibre broadband and benefitting from a more reliable telephone service and faster download speeds.
“In this digital age, it’s essential to have access to fast broadband. Our ‘Superfast Pipewell’ community project will make a huge difference to the residents, particularly to those working from home, the elderly or with young people in the house.”
It’s further good news for BT’s Community Fibre Partnership scheme, which has already provided fibre broadband for nearly 100 communities in the UK. Around 20,000 households and businesses can now connect to the fibre broadband network after getting in touch with BT directly.
Paul Bimson, BT’s regional partnership director for the East Midlands, said: “Making fibre broadband available to communities like Pipewell is one of our top priorities and working directly with them is one of the ways of making that happen. The faster download speeds that fibre broadband brings will open up many opportunities online for people living here, and I’m sure they’re counting down the months until it’s available.”
Download speeds of up to 80Mbps will be available in Pipewell, so activities like streaming music, watching TV online, and quickly uploading larger files will now be possible.
And because the network is being installed by Openreach, BT’s local network business, residents can still choose from a wide choice of internet service providers.
Kim Mears, Openreach’s managing director for infrastructure delivery, said: “We know the impact broadband has on our lives, and it’s great to be able to work together with communities like Pipewellto find a fibre broadband solution. We’re working closely with hundreds of similar communities on our community fibre partnership programmes across the UK, which are bringing faster internet access to even more homes and local businesses.”
Across the UK, more than nine out of ten premises can access superfast broadband speeds. For more details on the roll-out visit www.openreach.co.uk/whereandwhen.
People not included in any current plans for rolling out fibre broadband can visit communityfibre.bt.com to find out how to help bring superfast broadband to their local area.
[1] The New Albion Wind Farm Community Benefit Fund is administered by the Northamptonshire Community Foundation
