County internet to be supercharged in rural areas
A COUNTY-WIDE roll-out of superfast broadband internet, targeting areas of Derbyshire that have been suffering from the slowest connections, will begin early next year.
Derbyshire County Council is supporting a government scheme to fit out every home with internet speeds of up to 1,000 megabits per second and the county will be receiving a slice of the £110 million national funding pot.
It means more than 67,000 rural homes and businesses across Derbyshire will get the nextgeneration “gigabit” broadband as part of the Government’s Building Digital UK scheme and the county’s Digital Derbyshire programme.
The Government-backed programme, which partners up with network firm Openreach has already made better, faster broadband available to more than 103,000 premises across the county.
And “Project Gigabit” will now build on this work by using the £110 million set aside nationally to help upgrade properties in Derbyshire that would otherwise have been left behind by commercial providers.
Councillor Carolyn Renwick, Derbyshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Environment, said: “The
Digital Derbyshire programme has made tremendous progress over the last few years in delivering the county’s biggest ever broadband transformation by taking better, faster broadband to around a quarter of properties in Derbyshire that otherwise wouldn’t have benefitted.
“But technology doesn’t stand still and I’m pleased that Derbyshire has been included in the Government’s gigabit scheme, with the county council continuing to play a key role in helping to deliver nextgeneration
broadband.
“This will ensure that our residents and businesses can continue to operate and engage in an everchanging digital world.”
Properties in Derbyshire that currently have the slowest connections will be prioritised for the upgrade, helping to boost broadband speeds to enough to download a HD movie in less than 30 seconds - and lay the foundations for the technology of tomorrow such as 8K-quality video streaming.
It means families will no longer have to battle over bandwidth and residents in rural areas will have the freedom to live and work more flexibly and businesses will have the improved speed and reliability needed to operate effectively.
Oliver Dowden MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, said: “Rural communities in the East Midlands will be among the millions across the UK to get lightning-fast gigabit broadband through the government’s Project Gigabit.
“The £5 billion plan is investing in hard-to-reach areas and drawing in commercial providers to improve the quality and speed of connections, which is at the heart of our national mission to level up the regions and build back better.”
To find out more visit www. digitalderbyshire.org.uk