BT Sign £14.57m BDUK Deal to Rollout Superfast Broadband in Warwickshire

The Warwickshire County Council (WCC) has today signed a new state aid supported deal with BT that will see the operators superfast fibre broadband (25Mbps+) services being deployed to cover 91% of local premises by Spring 2016.

The CSW Broadband project, which is a partnership of eight local authorities, more specifically aims to ensure that BT’s fibre coverage is extended to 92% of Coventry, 96% of Solihull and 91% of Warwickshire. It is jointly funded by £5.67 million from BT, £4.45 million from the local councils and a further £4.45 million will come from the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office.

As usual the deployment will involve a mix of BT’s up to 80Mbps capable FTTC technology and some coverage of its niche 330Mbps FTTP solution.

Bill Murphy, BT’s MD of Next Generation Access, said:

“The Normandy landings marked a turning point in world history so it is fitting that we are signing this contract here at the Lord Leycester Hospital, which is home to many ex-servicemen. In its own small way the launch of fibre broadband marks a historical turning point, albeit a technological one, for this region, bringing a host of economic and social benefits.

The economy of Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire has seen considerable change, with the emergence of more knowledge-based businesses and changes to the manufacturing base of the area, which is embracing new technologies and new ways of working These are where future growth will be but only with a world-class communications infrastructure to support them which is where fibre broadband will play a vital role.”

Cllr Alan Cockburn, WCC’s Deputy Leader, said:

“This is a major landmark in securing the future competitiveness of our area. We have been working for a long time to get to this stage and, thanks to the information provided to the team by our local broadband champions and by residents and communities we have been able to negotiate the best possible deal.

Good broadband connections are essential to modern life, whether for work, leisure or learning. Our rural businesses need broadband to be able to compete in today’s increasingly global environment, and in a rural area like Warwickshire travelling can often be difficult, so that being able to work or learn from home can make a real difference to the quality of peoples’ lives.”

Overall some 40,000 local homes and businesses are expected to benefit from the extra investment. BTOpenreach will now begin an engineer survey and planning before hopefully being in a position to connect the first premises in “early 2014“.