Member Article

£6.5 million scheme gives further 10,000 Cheshire homes and businesses superfast broadband

Cheshire is to get a multi-million-pound boost to its roll-out of superfast fibre broadband with the new technology becoming available to thousands more homes and businesses.

Another 10,000 Cheshire homes and businesses will have access to fibre broadband by summer 2017 as a result of the £6.5 million project signed between four Cheshire councils and BT for a second phase ‘Superfast Extension Programme’.

The Connecting Cheshire announcement will take fibre broadband coverage in Cheshire to more than 400,000 homes and businesses when BT’s commercial roll-out of the technology is also taken into account.

It was revealed at a signing ceremony that BT had won the contract to extend the superfast network across the county.

Work will start on the planning of the additional network in autumn 2015.

The money has come from both the government and Cheshire councils and it will be supplemented by £1.7 million funding from BT.

The fibre broadband network built by Connecting Cheshire, a partnership of four Cheshire councils, BT and the European Regional Development Fund, will give thousands access to this ground-breaking technology.

More than 48,000 premises have already been connected out of a total of 80,000 covered by the first phase of the Connecting Cheshire programme, which will finish at the end of 2015.

In the second phase, more than £600k from the Rural Community Broadband Fund will be targeted at especially difficult places to reach in Cheshire.

Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council Councillor David Brown, said: “I am delighted we are able to extend the coverage of the Connecting Cheshire project to reach even more premises, particularly in our rural areas, where we know so many people are struggling with slow and unreliable broadband speeds.

“This is great news for small businesses, students and people of all ages who need and rely on excellent-quality broadband for so many of their modern-day needs.”

Connecting Cheshire project director Julian Cobley said: “The response to our current roll-out has been tremendous, with ever more homes and businesses taking the opportunity to upgrade to faster broadband.

“So to be able to extend this opportunity to 10,000 additional premises is fantastic news.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .