Superfast broadband rollout now one of the fastest in the world

As the Government announces that the rollout of superfast broadband across the UK has reached more than 1.5 million premises, Hampshire County Council is celebrating its own milestone of switching on 100 enhanced cabinets.

In Hampshire, that equates to more than 23,450 premises being able to access a faster and reliable superfast service as a result of the work carried out to-date.

26% of all UK connections are now superfast, up from 6% two years ago. Every day, more and more people are opting to make the most of what a superfast connection has to offer - be it entire households using multiple devices at the same time with no drop in quality of service, the ability to work from home, staying in touch with friends and relatives, using video calls or uploading digital content to websites.

Delivering world class connectivity is a key component of the Government's long- term economic plan, and the rollout has been steadily accelerating since it began in 2012.

Councillor Roy Perry, Leader of Hampshire County Council said: "Switching on 100 enhanced cabinets is a great achievement for Hampshire as it has enabled many of our rural communities the ability to connect to superfast broadband services, but we are aware there is still a long way to go and for me the roll out cannot go fast enough

"I also think it is imperative that all new large scale developments have superfast accessibility from day one. It is high time local authorities were given the power to insist on that as an essential requirement when granting planning consent.

"Reliable broadband services are important for the county's economic prosperity and making sure as many people who live and work here have access to good broadband speeds - is a priority for us.

"Hampshire's programme is helping to fill the gap in rural and hard-to-reach areas beyond the private sector's commercial plans and aims to provide at least 95 per cent of all premises in Hampshire with access to superfast broadband."

Commenting on the UK rollout, Culture Secretary Sajid Javid, said: "I'm delighted that the project has now reached more than 1.5 million homes and businesses, giving people much faster and reliable connections. We know how important superfast broadband is to everyone, which is exactly why we are investing £1.7bn in this remarkable project. Our transformation of the UK's digital landscape is progressing at an incredible rate and delivering a tremendous boost to the nation's economy as part of the Government's long term economic plan."

 

• The project has already made superfast broadband available to more than 23,450 homes and businesses in Hampshire
• To-date, the project has rolled out more than 103km of fibre-optic cabling across Hampshire
• 100 street cabinets are now up and serving customers in rural towns and villages throughout Hampshire who were previously stuck with slow speeds and unreliable connections

Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said: "Rural Britain is being wired up and fired up as we push superfast broadband into the countryside at an electrifying pace. Connecting rural communities is enabling rural businesses to reach their full potential - creating jobs, boosting exports and supercharging our economy."

Bill Murphy, Managing Director of Next Generation Access for BT, said: "The 100 cabinets that Hampshire's Superfast Broadband programme has deployed, is another important milestone for a partnership which is making real progress.

"Openreach, BT's local network business, is helping the Hampshire partnership make the high-speed technology available in rural areas which fall outside the private sector's commercial plans."

"Reaching one and a half million premises ahead of schedule is a fantastic achievement, but there's still more to do.

"The fibre broadband rollout is bringing really positive social and economic benefits to people all over the UK, and this programme is a great example of successful partnership between the private sector, local and national government.

"BT is investing more than £3 billion of our shareholders money to plan, design and build a national network that reaches as many homes and businesses as possible. We have already reached 21 million premises and our engineers will continue working flat-out to get this technology to some of Britain's hardest to reach communities."