Superfast broadband deliveries brought forward
Two superfast broadband rollouts have been brought forward, delivering a welcome boost for local businesses.
It has been announced this past week that the starting dates of separate projects in both Hertfordshire and Worcestershire have been moved forward with the view to get people connected sooner and reduce the overall costs of the rollouts.
Firstly, in Hertfordshire it was revealed that an ‘acceleration package’ means that the next £13.9 million stage of the superfast broadband project will kick off in January 2016, rather than next summer. It is hoped that bringing the start date forward by around seven months will make roughly £240,000 of savings.
The completion date for the Connected Counties project has also been brought forward nine months. The project managers now expect that broadband coverage will reach 95 per cent of Hertfordshire premises by March 2017, with more than 98 per cent coverage by the end of June 2018.
Meanwhile, in Worcestershire the latest stage of the introduction of fibre optic broadband across the county is now due to go ahead nine months earlier than originally planned. This will mean that the number of homes and businesses with access to superfast broadband is expected to hit 60,000 by June 2016, up from the 40,000 currently being serviced.
West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin welcomed the news, saying: "It is good to see Superfast Worcestershire extending the reach of fibre connections to more and more communities."
She added: "At a national level the government has set out an ambition to have every home in the county connected to a superfast connection in the next five years.
"I will continue to campaign until every home and business gets access to this vital service."
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