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MP welcomes superfast boost for Perton, South Staffordshire

Parts of South Staffordshire have received a boost with the arrival of faster fibre broadband several weeks earlier than expected.

More than 200 further homes and businesses in Perton are now able to access high-speed fibre broadband thanks to the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out programme, lead partners Staffordshire County Council and BT announced today.

This follows several months of planning and engineering work because these particular homes and businesses are served by ‘exchange only’ lines not connected to the main communications network using the usual road-side cabinets.

The news was welcomed by Gavin Williamson MP during a visit to see first-hand how the roll-out was progressing.

He said: “It is great to see how well the roll-out has gone in Perton. I’d like to thank Superfast Staffordshire for all the work they have done getting these additional homes and businesses connected earlier than the scheduled date and I’m looking forward to seeing more of South Staffordshire getting connected.”

Ian Binks, BT’s regional manager for Staffordshire and the West Midlands, said: “Superfast Staffordshire is a major engineering programme and the roll-out is going extremely well. Sometimes engineers encounter unexpected blockages or other challenges whilst working underground, and that’s always factored into our schedule. However, here in Perton it was the opposite. Despite the extra work involved in connecting these ‘exchange only’ lines, this part of the roll-out has gone so well, we’ve been able to complete the upgrade work slightly earlier than originally planned.

“Every day we’re seeing how residents and businesses alike are benefitting from upgrading to faster fibre broadband. Whether it’s small businesses or homeworkers needing to share large amounts of information with their colleagues, customers and suppliers, who families wanting to connect different devices to the internet at the same time – everything is easier and faster with high-speed fibre broadband. And coming in the run-up to Christmas, we hope the arrival of fibre broadband will come as an added boost for villagers wanting to do more of their shopping online.”

Councillor Phil Davis, vice chair of Perton Parish Council, said: “It’s great that these additional parts of Perton have now caught up with other areas of the village where faster fibre broadband has been available for some time.”

Tony Tappenden was one of the first Perton residents to upgrade since the completion of this latest phase of the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out. He said: “The difference is amazing, almost akin to the transition from candles to light bulbs! This new technology opens so many more doors, and it’s gratifying to be able to explore the new possibilities.

“I take lots of photos which I like to pass around the family and receive back from them. This used to take a long time because they are quite big files, but now I can send really quickly. Having fibre broadband has certainly taken the frustration out of communicating – whether it’s doing my online banking or shopping – it’s simply a much improved experience. Gone are the days of buffering and I can now watch television over broadband when I want to.”

Councillor Mark Winnington, Staffordshire County Council’s economy leader, said: “We’re pleased to see another Staffordshire community able to connect to faster broadband speeds as our roll-out continues across the county. We are continuing at pace with our Superfast Staffordshire programme and are now two-thirds of the way towards our target of about 90,000 properties. This is about improving opportunities for learning, leisure, employment and access to services for people in Perton.”

So far more than 65,000 premises across the county are able to access faster fibre broadband as a result of the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out. It builds on BT’s commercial roll-out which has already enabled around 340,000 county homes and businesses to access high-speed fibre broadband, including other parts of Perton and Tettenhall.

People can follow the progress of the roll-out via the Superfast Staffordshire website: www.superfaststaffordshire.co.uk and via Twitter @superfaststaffs and Facebook.

Once an area has ‘gone live’ with fibre, local people are able to place an order with an internet service provider of their choice to get download speeds of up to 80 megabits (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 20Mbps*. More than 140 companies offering fibre broadband services are now operating in the UK.

Note to Editors

* These are the top wholesale speeds available from Openreach to all service providers; speeds offered by service providers may vary.

Pictured left to right are: Phil Davis, Paul Chatwin (Staffordshire County Council project manager for Superfast Staffordshire), Tony Tappenden, Gavin Williamson MP and Ian Binks.

Issued by Staffordshire County Council and BT.

For further information about this news release Tom Hobbins at the Staffordshire County Council press office on 01785 276832 or email: tom.hobbins@staffordshire.gov.uk

OrEmma Tennant at the BT Regional press office on 0800 085 0660 or email: emma.tennant@bt.com

Twitter: @EmmaTennantBT

All BT news releases can be read at www.bt.com/newscentre

Photos of the roll-out of Superfast Staffordshire can be downloaded for free from: https://flic.kr/s/aHsk1eZqD3

About Superfast Staffordshire

Superfast Staffordshire is a partnership between Staffordshire County Council, BDUK and BT. It builds on the commercial roll-outs in the county.

The first phase of the Superfast Staffordshire roll-out programme represents an investment of more than £27 million (£7.44 million from Staffordshire County Council, £7.44m from the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK and £12.47m from BT.)

Staffordshire County Council will receive an extra £2.4m from BT following higher than expected take-up of fibre broadband. This will be modelled in due course.

The new deal injects further funding into the County Council’s contract with BT, with a further £1.68m coming from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Superfast Extension Programme (SEP) and £630,000 from BT.

For those premises not included in the fibre footprint, Superfast Staffordshire is aiming to improve broadband speeds using alternative technologies.

About Superfast Britain

Superfast Britain is a Government programme of investment in broadband and communication infrastructure across the UK. Run by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, this investment helps businesses to grow, creates jobs and will make Britain more competitive in the global race. The portfolio is comprised of three elements:

  1. £790m to extend superfast broadband to 95% of the UK by 2017;
  2. £150m to provide high speed broadband to businesses in 22 cities; and
  3. £150m to improve quality and coverage of mobile phone and basic data network services.

    Administered on behalf of Government by Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), Superfast Britain is transforming Britain by promoting growth, enabling skills and learning, and improving quality of life.

    For further information: https://www.gov.uk/broadband-delivery-uk

    About BT

    BT’s purpose is to use the power of communications to make a better world. It is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to its customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband, TV and internet products and services; and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of five customer-facing lines of business: BT Global Services, BT Business, BT Consumer, BT Wholesale and Openreach.

    For the year ended 31 March 2015, BT Group’s reported revenue was £17,979mwith reported profit before taxation of £2,645m.

    British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

    For more information, visit www.btplc.com.

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  • west midlands

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