Cheshire UK Name First Areas to Benefit from BDUK Superfast Broadband

The £28.5 million Connecting Cheshire project in England, which is supported by the national Broadband Delivery UK scheme, has announced that 14,000 local premises in over 30 “mainly outlying and rural communities” will gain access to BT’s “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network by the end of March 2014.

The state aid supported scheme ultimately aims to expand BT’s FTTC/P network to cover “around” 96% of premises across Cheshire, Halton and Warrington by the end of summer 2015 when some 80,000 additional homes and businesses are expected to have been moved within reach of BT’s faster broadband connectivity.

The First 30 Communities (Phase 1)

Cheshire East Council
Acton
Alderley Edge
Allostock
Aston
Brereton Green
Cranage
East of Crewe*
Holmes Chapel*
Hough
Nantwich*
Peover
Plumley
Twemlow Green
Warmingham
Wrenbury
Wybunbury

Cheshire West & Chester Council
Acton Bridge
Barton
Central Chester*
Christleton
Clutton
Davenham
Great Mollington
Guilden Sutton
Kelsall
Lach Dennis
Norley
Tarporley
Tarvin
Tattenhall
Weaverham
Wincham

Halton Borough Council
Central Runcorn*
Halebank
Weston

Warrington Borough Council
Central Warrington*
Dallam
Great Sankey*
Penketh*
Westwood
Winwick

* These areas will also see additional fibre roll-out building on the commercial coverage in phase one.

Councillor David Brown, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council, said:

“I am delighted to announce which communities will soon be able to benefit from fibre broadband, I urge everyone to check our maps to see where and when we will be making fibre available.

We have been working hard for over 3 years to get us to where we are today, this is an exciting time for Cheshire and the beginning of a journey that will see our communications landscape completely transformed.”

The joint partnership, which includes Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Halton Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council, is funded by a contribution of £9 million from BT, £4 million from the government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office, £1.85 million from the local councils and £13.6 million from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

A team of over 100 planners and BTOpenreach engineers are currently working to upgrade local telephone exchanges, lay more than 875 miles of fibre-optic cable and build over 400 new street cabinets.