Superfast web is rolling out
THE delivery of ultrafast broadband to residents and businesses across Staffordshire has received a boost, thanks to a company’s rollout strategy of targeting “forgotten” market towns across the country.
Uttoxeter is one of the places that will benefit first from Full Fibre Ltd’s engagement with the county, with more towns likely to follow.
Working closely with Staffordshire County Council’s Superfast Staffordshire project, the company’s work, it is hoped, will mean more residents being able to depend on fast, reliable connectivity.
Oliver Helm, chief ececutive of Full Fibre said: “Full Fibre are unique in the market. They guarantee to offer the ability to connect to their ultrafast network to every single property in the towns they commit to where other providers may simply serve the easy-to-reach, ignoring the rest. Furthermore, as a wholesale
only provider, those residents and businesses that connect to its network have a wide choice of ISPS from which they can purchase a service.
No one is locked in and consumer choice is guaranteed.”
The announcement comes in the wake of the Government’s Office for
Science report which advised that the Prime Minister should consider “designating broadband as an essential utility”.
Whilst the UK is delivering more and more vital gigabit infrastructure, the focus of the bigger providers is in deploying in dense urban areas, furthering the digital divide between urban and rural areas.
A spokesman for Full Fibre said: “Full Fibre’s FTTP (Fibre to the Premise) investment into these communities signals Full Fibre’s intent that everyone should get access to ultrafast, reliable services and the opportunities that come with it.
“Rising expectations from consumers and demands such as increased homeworking and video streaming mean people are more dependent on fast, reliable connectivity than ever.
“We are delighted to be announcing the extension of our network into Staffordshire, covering even more hard to reach locations that have previously been neglected by other providers.
“These chosen areas are ones that have been previously left behind and rely on ageing copper connections, that do not meet the needs of modern, homeworking families”
Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change Simon Tagg said: “Ultrafast broadband connection to residents and businesses is crucial for our communities to ensure they have the same opportunities as the rest of the country.
“Our Superfast Staffordshire programme has been a huge success and enabled most people in the county to get connected to faster broadband speeds and full fibre connection is another big step forward. We will continue to work with partners like Full Fibre Ltd to extend connection reach to more areas as soon as possible.”
Full Fibre has the goal of reaching over 500,000 premises by 2025.