BT Commit GBP6.4m to Rollout Superfast Broadband in The Black Country

As expected BT has been chosen as the supplier for a £12.2 million Broadband Delivery UK based project in The Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton – England’s West Midlands), which aims to make fixed line superfast broadband (24Mbps+) speeds available to 98% of local premises by mid-2017.

The Black Country regions chose to sit out the first round of national BDUK funding because much of the area could already access a Next Generation Access (NGA) broadband service and only around 7% were left to suffer from sub-24Mbps speeds, with just 0.4% getting sub-2Mbps.

However the situation changed after BDUK allocated an additional £250m (funding phase 2) across the United Kingdom and raised the “superfast” coverage target from 90% to 95% by 2017 as part of its Superfast Extension Programme (SEP). This triggered the relevant councils to pursue a new programme through the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership; a related consultation document can be found here (link).

Sajid Javid, Culture Secretary, said:

“Today marks the beginning of an incredible transformation of broadband in the Black Country. Government fully appreciates that access to fast and reliable broadband is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity, which is precisely why we are funding projects like this one all over the UK.”

The funding commitments have also changed since our preliminary report earlier this month (here), although both BDUK and the local authorities continue to commit the same contribution of £2.9m (each). Previously it had been reported that the chosen supplier (BT) would only commit £1.5m, yet today’s press release states that they’ve actually contributed £6.4million (more than matching the public investment).

Overall the development will require BTOpenreach to, among other things, upgrade 400 street cabinets in the area. As usual the operator will now begin its planning and survey work, while the first services aren’t set to become available until the end of 2015.