Uptake of superfast broadband soars in South Cambs village
More than half of homes and businesses in the South Cambridgeshire village of Whaddon have rushed to order fibre broadband within only a month of its new street cabinet going live.
The community has been connected to superfast speeds thanks to the Connecting Cambridgeshire broadband roll-out programme for rural areas, led by Cambridgeshire County Council in partnership with BT and Openreach.
Whaddon's uptake of superfast broadband has been one of the fastest in the country, and highlights the importance of reliable internet to businesses in the area - most of which have had to put up with slow speeds for years.
Nigel Strudwick, the so-called 'broadband champion' has been at the helm of the community’s campaign. He said: “This shows just how important this new fibre connection is to people in Whaddon and it was worth agitating on behalf of the village to get faster broadband to get the village into the 21st century.
“Without Connecting Cambridgeshire fighting our corner, we would not have got where we are now. It’s the latest of a series of improvements to living in Whaddon and we are now looking to install Wifi in our refurbished village hall to make it more attractive for events.”
Local families, farmers and self-employed workers have welcomed the superfast connections which they say will transform their lives.
Residents John and Anne Warrack said using the Internet has become a "joy rather than a nightmare" since the rollout of superfast broadband.
The installation of fibre broadband has also had a huge effect on farmer Stan Smith, who can now access all the agriculture compliance regulations from DEFRA and the Environment Agencies, together with banking online.
The Connecting Cambridgeshire broadband roll-out scheme has already made Cambridgeshire and Peterborough one of the best connected areas in the UK, with more than 90 per cent of homes and businesses now able to receive superfast broadband speeds of 24 Mbps upwards
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