27,500 more Lincolnshire homes and businesses get faster broadband

Eleven more communities now benefiting from roll-out programme; 

Lincolnshire County Council welcomes new development

BT announced today that faster broadband is now available to a further 27,500 homes and businesses in Lincolnshire.
Sutton on Sea and Mablethorpe are among the latest eleven communities in Lincolnshire to benefit from upgrades as part of the roll-out of BT’s next generation broadband service delivered over copper lines. A full list can be found at the end of this release.
The BT investment will make available download speeds of up to 20 megabits per second (Mbps) – more than double the fastest speed previously available from BT.
The faster broadband is already available to 86 per cent of East Midlands premises and, by next Spring this figure will have reached more than 88 per cent.. The new service is available on an open, wholesale basis to all companies providing broadband*.
Cllr Kelly Smith, Executive Member for Finance and HR, Lincolnshire County Council said: “This additional investment by BT is very positive news for Lincolnshire. First-class broadband is vital for business growth, education and people wanting to access services online. That’s why the county council is investing £10m and the district councils £4m in our own project to bring superfast broadband to the county. Residents can help improve things by backing our campaign at www.onlincolnshire.org . Less than five minutes of your time could make a big difference. Sign up and spread the word.”
Owen Moody BT’s East Midlands Regional director said: “Faster broadband will deliver important benefits for people across Lincolnshire, whether they are running a business, working or studying from home, doing the weekly shop online, downloading films and TV programmes or keeping in touch with friends and family around the world. It can all be done better using faster broadband.
“That’s why BT is determined to bring faster speeds to as many homes and businesses as possible, and we are keen to work with the public sector to find solutions for even the most challenging locations.”
This investment in the copper network is in addition to BT’s £2.5 billion roll-out of fibre-based broadband, which will bring even faster speeds to around two-thirds of UK premises by the end of 2014.

Locations included in today’s announcement.
BILLINGHAY
WOODHALL SPA
OLD LEAKE
CAISTOR
SUTTON ON SEA
CHAPEL ST LEONARDS
SPILSBY
SUTTON BRIDGE
MARKET RASEN
MABLETHORPE
WADDINGTON

Note to Editors
*Once an exchange area has been upgraded for next generation broadband, some service providers automatically upgrade their customers to the enhanced broadband service. People should contact their chosen service provider for more information about the products and services they offer.