Multi-million pound Connecting Shropshire fibre broadband project celebrates first anniversary

Albrighton, Cosford, Halfway House, Minsterley, Pontesbury, Westbury and Yockleton are latest communities to ‘go live’

More than 80,000 metres of fibre optic cable has been laid during first year of the programme

The multi-million pound Connecting Shropshire partnership rolling out faster fibre broadband across the county continues to gain momentum, partners Shropshire Council and BT confirmed as the ambitious programme celebrates its first anniversary today (March 27).

Around 6,500 homes and businesses are now able to connect to the technology thanks to the Connecting Shropshire partnership. And in the last two weeks Albrighton, Cosford, Halfway House, Minsterley, Pontesbury, Westbury and Yockleton became the latest communities where high-speed fibre broadband has ‘gone live’ for the first time as a result of Connecting Shropshire. Around 3,500 premises in these communities are now able to connect to the new fibre network which will deliver download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps*.

The partners also used today’s anniversary to reveal some fascinating facts and figures which further demonstrate the scale of the engineering operation being undertaken.

During the first year since the contract was formally signed engineers working for Openreach, BT’s local network business, have:

• Laid more than 80,000 metres of fibre optic cable;
• Installed more than 180,000 metres of new ducting;
• Sited more than 50 new roadside cabinets;
• Moved more than 120 tonnes of earth;
• And poured around 55 tonnes of concrete, to make faster broadband a reality.

Connecting Shropshire is a partnership between Shropshire Council, BT and the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) that will enable more than 62,000 rural homes and businesses in Shropshire (excluding Telford and Wrekin) to access faster broadband.

Steve Charmley, Shropshire Council Cabinet member for broadband, said:

“It’s been a big year and getting things up and running was a huge task, however now we’re underway and things are picking up speed it’s clear we’ve come a long way in a year. The next year for the project – and getting fibre to as many people as we can – is the focus for us now.”

Ian Binks, BT’s regional manager for Shropshire and the West Midlands, said:

“Today marks another major milestone for the partnership. We’ve achieved so much in the first year, but we’re already focused on the work that needs to be done in the year ahead.

 

“It’s a huge engineering project, but we’re on course to reach the half-way point around this time next year.”

 

People will continue to be informed about the progress of the programme via the website (www.connectingshropshire.co.uk), Social media, Shropshire councillors, parish councils and regular updates in the media.

The combined investment from Connecting Shropshire and the private sector’s commercial roll-out plans means 93 per cent of homes and businesses in the Shropshire Council area will have access to faster fibre broadband by the end of Spring 2016.

Shropshire homes and businesses are able to order fibre broadband from a wide range of internet service providers as the network being installed by Openreach is available to all providers on an open, wholesale basis, thereby ensuring competitive prices. To check whether you can access fibre broadband services contact your internet service provider.

Montford Bridge became the first rural community to be connected as part of Connecting Shropshire in December.

Further information

*These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

Contact

For further information about this news release please contact: Emma Tennant at the BT Regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@bt.com (All BT news releases can be read at www.bt.com/newscentre) or

Callum McLagan at the Shropshire Council press office on 01743 255939 or email callum.mclagan@ipande.co.uk (All Shropshire Council news stories can be read at http://shropshire.gov.uk/news/)

Connecting Shropshire programme website: http://connectingshropshire.co.uk/

About Connecting Shropshire

Connecting Shropshire is the name given to the programme bringing fibre based broadband to areas where it isn’t economically viable for commercial companies to provide it. It is a partnership between Shropshire Council, BT and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) that will enable more than 62,000 homes and businesses in Shropshire (excluding Telford and Wrekin) to access faster broadband by the end of Spring 2016.

When added to BT’s commercial roll-out, 93 per cent of premises in the Shropshire Council area will have access to fibre based broadband by the end of Spring 2016. All premises in the programme area will be provided with access to a basic level of broadband (a minimum of 2mbps).

About BT

BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

For the year ended 31 March 2013, BT Group’s reported revenue was £18,103m with reported profit before taxation of £2,315m.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.btplc.com.

Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements:

• £780m to extend superfast broadband to 95 per cent of the UK by 2017
• £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities
• £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services

Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life. For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk