Six more Gloucestershire communities get set for Spring switch-on
7th May, 2014
Southrop is the latest community to join Fastershire, with the first homes and businesses now able to connect to a new fibre broadband network.
The Gloucestershire village can now start to take advantage of the high-speed technology and another six communities in the county are set join them this spring as the £56.6 million Fastershire project, now in its second year, gathers pace.
Following Southrop, parts of Drybrook are expected to go live in the coming weeks and premises in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gorsley, Kemble, Poulton and St Briavels are also due to go live during the spring as the project continues to extend faster broadband to those areas in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire not covered by commercial roll-out plans.
So far, throughout the Gloucestershire and Herefordshire project area, engineers have walked around 300km to undertake vital surveys, laid more than 165 kilometres of fibre cable, moved more than 250 tonnes of earth and poured around 115 tonnes of concrete to make faster broadband a reality.
Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said: "This is fantastic news for our County. The Fastershire project is really beginning to gather pace, and residents and businesses are starting to benefit from investment in this vital infrastructure. Many more homes and businesses will start to benefit over the next two years, and communities and businesses alike will be able to use the new network to grow and prosper."
Bill Murphy, managing director of next generation networks for BT, said: "There is still a long way to go, but we are getting there and this is an exciting time for people in the Fastershire area. This project will have a hugely positive impact on rural as well as urban communities in Gloucestershire with fibre broadband providing a whole range of opportunities for households and businesses."