One in Three Premises on the UK Isles of Scilly Take BT’s Fibre Broadband

According to BT about 1 in 3 premises (homes and businesses) on the Isles of Scilly are now connected to the operators new “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network, which was only installed on the island community some six months ago as part of the wider EU backed £132m Superfast Cornwall project.

The first official customers were connected via BTOpenreach’s ‘up to’ 80Mbps capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) network in November 2014 (here), which is linked to the island via a high-capacity submarine fibre optic cable that until recently had gone unused since 2006, and clearly the demand on one of the UK’s most isolated communities is very strong.

Apparently Scilly is home to around 2,200 premises and the highest take-up in percentage terms is on the island of St Agnes, where 21 of the 24 premises are using the new service. Across the five islands about 450 premises are now connected. Granted it wasn’t a cheap project, but we doubt the residents are complaining.

Ranulf Scarbrough, BT’s Superfast Cornwall Director, said:

“In percentage terms, the take up of high-speed fibre broadband on the isles of Scilly is already amongst the highest for any local authority area in the UK. This is an astonishing achievement when you consider the relatively short time – just six months – it has been available on Scilly.

Superfast broadband is providing a major boost for an area famed for its beauty and remoteness. This exciting technology is undoubtedly one of the most important investments undertaken this century for a community in a unique Atlantic location, which relies on its links with the outside world. Whatever the weather or the conditions, local businesses are able to rely on high-speed broadband to work more efficiently and find new customers, whilst households benefit from improved learning and entertainment opportunities.”

Overall the project in Cornwall recently reported a total uptake of 60,000 and that’s out of around 237,000 premises passed. The local authority has also confirmed a plan that will put “fibre-based superfast broadband within reach of 99% of businesses and families across the Duchy” by March 2019 (here).

The original Superfast Cornwall programme was funded by £78.5m from BT and up to £53.5m from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Its goal was to roll-out a faster “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network to 95% of the county by March 2015.