Taunton Deane’s prospective MP Rebecca Pow welcomed news this week that small rural communities in Taunton Deane have become amongst the first to benefit from the £94 million Connecting Devon and Somerset partnership, three months ahead of schedule.
Rebecca says “As someone who runs a rurally based business I welcome the news that Superfast Broadband is reaching many of our villages ahead of schedule! Bradford on Tone, near Taunton is up and running now with Bishops Lydeard, Creech St Michael and Monkton Heathfield due to be on track for the technology before the end of the year.”
By early 2014 this first phase of the programme will have made high-speed internet technology available to at least 15,000 homes and businesses.
Faster speeds will make it easier for businesses to use features such as high quality video-conferencing and cloud computing services. At home, fibre broadband enables a family to download a movie, watch a TV replay service, surf the internet and play games online all at the same time. A whole album can be downloaded in less than 30 seconds and a feature length HD movie in less than 10 minutes.
Connecting Devon and Somerset signed the delivery contract with private sector partner, BT, in January this year and since then engineers have been busy conducting vital surveying work to ensure that the deployment plan for roll out is as cost effective and efficient as possible.
The Connecting Devon and Somerset programme will lead to the delivery of high-speed fibre broadband to around 90 per cent of premises by the end of 2016. It also plans to ensure a minimum of 2Mbps for all premises within the programme and is actively seeking more funding to further extend the availability of superfast broadband across the whole area.
Connecting Devon and Somerset is the largest programme of its kind in England. It builds on BT’s commercial rollout of fibre broadband, which has already made the technology available to around 196,000 premises in Somerset and about 211,000 in Devon.
As well as the seven towns and villages, the first phase of the programme will also include extending fibre broadband in Taunton and Bridgwater, parts of which are already benefiting from BT’s commercial fibre broadband roll-out.
Councillor David Hall, Deputy Leader of Somerset County Council said: “To have the first cabinets ready to go ahead of schedule is great news. The most exciting phase of the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme is now underway and the process of transforming our businesses has begun. Not only is access to high speed fibre broadband a game changer for business, enabling them to compete on an equal footing, but it can help break down the digital divide in our communities.”
Bill Murphy, managing director of next generation access for BT Group, said: “This is excellent news and a key milestone for the programme. We are at the beginning of a journey that will see the communications landscape completely transformed.
“This ambitious project will boost the productivity of local businesses and help to attract a more diverse range of high-growth companies to the area. It will play a major role in creating greater prosperity for Devon and Somerset.”
To find out more, visit www.connectingdevonandsomerset.co.uk