The Isle of Wight Council (IWC) has officially approved a new plan that will see it investing £3 million to help superfast broadband ISP services reach the islands many rural areas. The money will then be matched by funding from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office and the private sector (total spend of £15m).

According to Ventnorblog, BT has also committed to deploying superfast broadband services but only in "commercially viable areas" (e.g. Newport, Cowes and Ryde). Indeed this week's new batch of FTTC exchange upgrades have Newport down for an upgrade in 2012 (here).


At present Ofcom reports that people on the Isle of Wight (population of over 140,000) receive an average "modem sync" speed of 7.3Mbps, with 12.4% getting less than 2Mbps. Broadband take-up sits at 64% and there is ZERO superfast broadband availability. Work to reach rural areas with the new service could begin during the first half of 2013. Credits to Thinkbroadband for spotting this.