The UK Isle of Wight Hits 99 Percent Fibre Broadband Coverage Goal

The Isle of Wight Council, which represents an island just off England’s central south coast (home to around 140,000 people), confirms that its joint £5.1m contract with BT has successfully expanded the reach of “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) to 99% of local homes and businesses.

The project, which is also supported by the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme, officially began its deployment phase during mid-2014 and has now ensured that an additional 20,000 premises in “largely rural parts of the Island” are able to benefit from the new network (this is on top of the 51,000 premises already covered via purely private investment).

However it’s worth pointing out that the 99% goal reflects the raw “fibre” footprint (including sub-24Mbps areas), while the contract also stated a goal for 90% of premises in the intervention area to have immediate access to superfast broadband speeds of 24Mbps+. So far as we can tell the coverage of 24Mbps+ speeds today is actually around the 93-95% mark, which is very good indeed.

Shirley Smart, Member of the IoW Council Executive, said:

“I am more than delighted that we have reached the target of 20,000 homes and businesses in mainly rural areas now having access. We are also greatly encouraged that over the past 20 months, as the cabinets have been installed and gone live across the Island, more and more rural homes and businesses have been taking advantage of their new access.

This is great progress for those in rural areas, and combined with the commercial rollout, it ensures the Island is one of the best places in the UK for high-speed broadband coverage. Looking to the future it means the Island is extremely well-placed in terms of connectivity for its residents, visitors and businesses.”

Since the beginning of the partnership, 109 fibre broadband cabinets have ‘gone live’ around the Island and 4,200 premises in the intervention area have subscribed. However one operator that won’t be welcoming the news is WightFibre, which had previously voiced strong competition fears (here and here).