£28m for broadband in rural Cheshire
A £28.5m project is promising high-speed fibre broadband for 80,000 rural premises in Cheshire over the next three years.
Connecting Cheshire, a partnership between four local authorities and BT, has secured the funding for the work.
BT said it should take the number of homes and businesses in Cheshire with access to broadband speeds of up to 80mbps to 400,000, or 96% of premises in the county. The average UK speed is 11mbps.
The company expects premises in the remaining 4% to also see an uplift, as the project aims to deliver a minimum of 2mbps or more to almost all homes and businesses.
It is contributing £9m towards fibre deployment in “non-commercial” areas while the Connecting Cheshire partnership is contributing £1.85m, with a further £4m coming from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and £13.6m from European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Connecting Cheshire is a partnership between Cheshire East Council, Cheshire West and Chester Council, Halton Borough Council and Warrington Borough Council and BT.
Cllr David Brown, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “The award of this contract to BT marks the end of a comprehensive process to secure the best broadband deal for Cheshire. The four councils across Cheshire are committed to providing reliable high-speed fibre broadband for both our home and business users.
“From children doing homework to caring for our elderly population and from social media, to e-commerce and home entertainment – fast broadband is the critical enabler. The social, environmental and economic benefits will be huge, making Cheshire one of the best connected regions in the country.”
Chancellor and Tatton MP George Osborne, said: “This is great news for not just my Tatton constituency but the whole of Cheshire, extending the reach of fibre broadband is a real opportunity to provide a huge strategic boost to our urban and rural areas, for both homes and businesses to become better connected.”
