The East Staffordshire Borough Council (ESBC) has hinted that a solution to the long running broadband woes in Burton, which includes a lack of capacity at the local BT telephone exchange that recently prevented some homes and businesses from being able to sign-up for broadband (here), could now finally be in sight.

The town is a classic example of why broadband provision and performance problems aren't merely a rural issue. Burton is home to an estimated population of around 65,000, yet until recently it hadn't even been mentioned as part of BT's superfast broadband rollout.

Thankfully the situation began to change after BT confirmed (in June 2011 (here)) that the local BURTON UPON TRENT exchange would finally be upgraded to support its latest 'up to' 40Mbps (rising to 80Mbps in 2012) capable Fibre-to-the-Cabinet ( FTTC ) technology (aka - 'Super Fast Fibre Access') in 2012.

According to the Burton Mail, BT and ESBC are now close to signing off on an agreement that should see the telecoms operator installing six new fttc street cabinets around the town. BT claims that its related telephone exchange upgrade will occur four years ahead of schedule, although their FTTC rollout plan didn't even mention Burton until this year. A decision is due by boxing day, although the ESBC is widely expected to approve BT's plan.