7,700 Extra Premises to Get Fibre in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire

A further 7,700 homes and businesses in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire are set to gain access to Openreach’s (BT) “fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network after a new extension agreement was reached under the state aid supported Connected Counties project.

So far both counties have already worked alongside the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme and Openreach to complete Phase 1 of the roll-out, which last year succeeded in boosting the coverage of “superfast broadband” (24Mbps+) to 90% of local homes and businesses (here). Superfast coverage is today around 94% in Hertfordshire and 91% in Buckinghamshire.

Elsewhere the Hertfordshire side of the project has already signed a Phase 2 Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) contract, which aims to ensure that the new FTTC network is extended to reach 95% of the county by September 2017 and then “over” 98% by the end of June 2018 (here); this should add another 46,000 premises to the coverage total.

Similarly Buckinghamshire is also in the process of starting the roll-out for their second (Phase 2) extension contract (here), which originally aimed to reach “up to” 11,000 additional premises (later revised to 12,500) and hopefully achieve 95% coverage of “superfast broadband” by June 2018. This has also recently been given a 2,500 premises boost (here).

Now the local Hemel Today newspaper is reporting that the overall project will reach a further 7,700 premises by December 2019 thanks to another extension, although unfortunately the project’s website is offline and so we can’t check the details (it’s possible the figure of 7,700 may include the 2,500 boost that has already been announced for Bucks).

David Williams, Hertfordshire County Council, said:

“It’s great news that even more homes in the county will benefit from superfast broadband, including some hard-to-reach rural locations in the east of the county.

Good connection to the internet is vital for our residents who use online streaming services, as well as for our businesses who rely on being able to connect with customers.”

Giles Ellerton, BT’s Regional Partnership Director, said:

“It’s excellent news that the rollout in Bucks and Herts is proving to be so popular.

The Connected Counties team are out and about in the community doing a great job of raising awareness of the benefits of fibre broadband. The technology really does have the ability to transform the way people and businesses use the internet. Anything you can do online you can do better and faster with superfast broadband.”

End.