12 August 2015
“Superfast Snarestone” as village is connected by 200th fibre broadband cabinet in Leicestershire
Residents and businesses in the village of Snarestone now have access to superfast broadband thanks to the installation of Superfast Leicestershire’s 200th fibre broadband cabinet.
The green roadside cabinet, which provides homes and businesses with high-speed internet access, has been upgraded as part of the partnership between Leicestershire County Council and BT, which has now reached over 46,000 premises in Leicestershire.
The news that over 110 additional homes and businesses in the village can now get fibre technology comes on the same day as the government announces its nationwide rollout of superfast broadband has now passed more than three million UK homes and businesses. The national rollout is on track to reach 95 per cent of the UK by 2017 and is now reaching around 5,000 additional premises every day.
Blake Pain, Leicestershire County Council’s Cabinet Lead for Rural Broadband, said: “It’s exciting that we have reached this stage in the project, seeing even more homes and businesses connected.”
Steve Henderson, BT’s regional director for next generation access, said: “Today marks important milestones, both locally and nationally, for the superfast broadband revolution. This exciting technology is transforming the opportunities for communities across Leicestershire and the UK as a whole. Engineers from BT’s local network business, Openreach, are rolling out the technology at a world class pace, reaching more premises every week.”
Simon Boam, Chairman of Snarestone Parish Council, said. “This is great news for our community. Within Snarestone there are a number of businesses who have struggled with poor broadband speeds. This investment will help boost economic growth and ensure residents can work from home more effectively”.
Superfast Leicestershire, the partnership between Leicestershire County Council and BT, with additional funding from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme, aims to take fibre broadband to around 72,000 premises across the county by the end of 2018.
Digital Economy Minister Ed Vaizey said: “Our nationwide rollout of superfast broadband has now reached an additional three million UK homes and businesses and is transforming lives up and down the country. I’m delighted that the people and businesses of Leicestershire are now able to enjoy all the benefits that superfast speeds have to offer.”
The Leicestershire project is building on BT’s own commercial roll-out, which has already made fibre broadband available to around 291,000 Leicestershire homes and businesses.
The Openreach network being installed under the Superfast Leicestershire programme is open to service providers on an equal basis. This means that once an area has gone live for fibre, people can order fibre broadband from a range of broadband providers, ensuring competitive prices.
For more information about Superfast Leicestershire visit www.superfastleicestershire.org.uk or look out for #SuperfastLeics on Twitter.
ENDS
