Abbotswood in Romsey goes Superfast with 80 Mbps

Hampshire County Council is continuing its efforts to bring Superfast Broadband to as many residents as possible. Recent figures demonstrate that the programme has reached over 57,500 premises. 

By working closely with the Abbotswood consortium of Bellway Homes, Bovis Homes and Taylor Wimpey Homes and BT’s local network business, Openreach, residents of the Abbotswood development in Romsey are now able to access Superfast Broadband, at speeds between 25 Mbps and 80 Mbps. 

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Roy Perry said: “I am really very pleased to be able to say that, by working collaboratively with all involved, we have been able to find a solution which means that residents of Abbotswood now have access to superfast broadband and at speeds of up to 80Mbps.” 

Abbotswood residents are now able to upgrade to Superfast broadband by contacting their current Internet Service Provider. Residents can also visit our price comparison site: http://pricecomparison.hampshiresuperfastbroadband.com/. 

Cllr Perry, continued: “Faster internet speeds are a must for most residents and businesses these days and we will continue to work with the organisations involved, in existing and future developments, for all new properties to have access to superfast broadband from ‘day one’.

Two new fibre broadband cabinets have been installed in Chivers Road and will serve existing residents as well as being avaliable to new residents that move into properties that are currently unoccupied. 

Councillor Perry launched Hampshire’s latest broadband support programme ‘Getting Connected’ earlier this year, aiming to ensure that Superfast broadband services are available on major new housing developments across Hampshire. This is in addition to existing programmes ensuring rural areas get access to broadband.

Sally Prince, Acting Sales Director for Taylor Wimpey Southern Counties, working on behalf of the consortium of Bellway Homes, Bovis Homes and Taylor Wimpey Homes, said: “We understand that having a reliable connection to the internet is vital in this day and age, which is why we felt it was so important to offer BT’s high-quality superfast broadband to our residents at Abbotswood.

“We are thrilled to hear that the broadband is now live at the development, and hope all of our homeowners will enjoy their Superfast internet access.”

Stacey King, BT’s South East regional director at BT, said: ““The agreement at Abbotswood is a great example of Hampshire County Council, developers and Openreach working closely together. The high-speed network installed by Openreach, is available on an open basis to all internet service providers offering households faster internet access and the benefit of real choice from a highly competitive market.”

Local resident George Winfield, who runs his own DJ business, Giant Sounds, from home, is thrilled with the news: “Having a good internet speed is crucial for running my business from home, from downloading music to keeping in touch with clients and doing research. I will definitely be upgrading my service as soon as possible and on behalf of everyone on the estate; I want to thank the County Council for making this happen.”

Hampshire’s Superfast Broadband Programme will see a £28m investment in the County making Superfast Broadband available to 97,000 premises, which would have otherwise been left out by the commercial roll out. This will see coverage reach up to 95% by 2018. The Council operates a Clawback scheme, whereby the more residents that sign up for Superfast Broadband once it is avaliable, the more funding it can claim back from BT to reinvest in the final 5% of the county, the areas most difficult and expensive to reach.