With a growing number of key services available online, broadband is now, more than ever, an essential utility for homes and businesses, and a key priority for government, who have dedicated £1.7 billion to rolling out superfast broadband. With 40,000 premises being wired up every week, this investment aims to provide 95% of the UK with access by 2017. In East Hampshire, 15,370 more premises will have superfast connections by 2017.
Access to superfast broadband is key to the growth and prosperity not only of East Hampshire, but the UK as a whole: it is estimated that for every £1 invested in this superfast programme, £20 of economic benefit is generated.
Whilst access for the 95% is an admirable target, this is obviously of little comfort to the remaining 5% who are largely in the hardest to reach and most rural areas. With this in mind, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is working with the private sector to develop solutions for the so called ‘final 5%’. Hampshire has benefited from this combined effort with Call Flow Solutions, a telecommunications service provider, being awarded £1.2 million of government funding to develop hybrid superfast technology solutions for the localities’ remotest areas. These pilots are covering over 1,500 homes in the region, including in Ropley and West Tisted.
The Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Sajid Javid, and East Hampshire’s MP, Damian Hinds, visited one of these technology pilots at West Tisted Manor Estate. It is here that Call Flow are trialling innovative techniques and fibre tubing to bring superfast to residents.
Damian Hinds said:
“It is fantastic to see the great work being done to get East Hampshire on the superfast grid. Good quality connections are vital for ensuring our families and businesses have access to the information and services they need. The work in West Tisted is a great example of some of the innovative thinking that is helping make this happen.”
Note to Editors
- Rolling-out of superfast broadband to 95 per cent of the country by 2017. £1.7 billion is being invested as part of our Broadband Programme to roll out superfast broadband to 95 per cent of the UK by 2017. 44 individual projects, covering different parts of the country, make up this Programme which has already delivered superfast broadband to 2 million more premises, with around 40,000 more being connected-up each week, with 80 per cent of the UK now having superfast broadband coverage, up from only 45 per cent in 2009
- Connecting up the last 5 per cent. £10 million is being spent to develop new technologies, such as fixed wireless, satellites and ‘fibre to the distribution point’, so that households in the most remote and hard-to-reach places get connected up to superfast broadband. These represent the final 5 per cent of the UK that need superfast broadband connections that commercial broadband services won’t reach
- Superfast broadband is driving economic growth. For every £1 invested in our broadband programme, £20 of economic benefits will be generated, representing fantastic value for money. This programme will also provide a £1.5 billion boost to local economies and create an additional 56,000 new jobs in the UK by 2024