Lancashire UK Expand BDUK and BT Fibre Broadband to 10 More Communities

The £62.5m Superfast Lancashire project in England has revealed the names of a further 10 communities that will gain access to BT’s superfast broadband (FTTC/P) network by the end of March 2014. On top of that some 52% of the county can now access the service (total of 350,000 premises passed).

The latest phase, which will also continue to help expand access (infill work) to another 1,200 premises in Bacup and a further 10,000 in Blackpool, expects to help pass a further 21,500 homes and businesses.

Once complete this latest pre-spring phase should take the total number of premises able to access FTTC/P to more than 39,000 (i.e. as a result of the project so far).

The Next 10 Lancashire BDUK Communities
Earby
Kelbrook
Foulridge
Trawden
Wilpshire
Langho and Old Langho
Mellor
Hest Bank
Freckleton
Warton

As it stands a total of around 130,000 homes and businesses are expected to be connected to BT’s “fibre broadband” network by the end of 2014 and the eventual aim is to cover 97% of local premises by the end of 2014 2015. So far the project has completed work on over 130 new street cabinets, with a further 100 being built or in progress. More areas will be announced in due course.

BT has contributed £30m to the scheme and another £10.8m is coming from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) office. On top of that £16.5m is expected to come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and another £5.2m from the local councils (£4.7m from LCC, £300,000 from Blackburn with Darwen Council and £230,000 from Blackpool Council).

It’s worth pointing out that some smaller operators, such as B4RN, are separately also making a difference in the most rural parts of the county.