21 Cambridgeshire Villages Added to Gigabit Speed Fibre-Optic Broadband
East of England internet service provider County Broadband has announced that 21 Cambridgeshire villages have been added to its gigabit speed fibre-optic broadband rollout. The expansion of the ISP’s fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) rollout plan will cover villages in St Neots and Huntingdon in rural parts of the county. James Salmon, Director of Sales and New Territories at County Broadband said, “As an East of England company, we are committed to helping Cambridgeshire become a pioneer in future-ready digital connectivity.
“Crucially, we have secured millions of pounds in private funding to further our ambitions, meaning we can start planning today to meet our growing future needs. It is estimated that construction of the extension will take 18 months and will include just over 6,000 rural buildings in Boxworth, Buckden, Diddington, Elsworth, Eltisley, Grafham, Graveley, Great Paxton, Great Staughton, Hail Weston, Hilton, Knapwell, Lolworth, Midloe, Offord Cluny, Offord Darcy, Papworth St Agnes, Perry, Southoe, Toseland and Yelling. However, each village must give the green light to the rollout proposals before work can begin.”
Salmon added, “It is also important to emphasise that building an all-fibre infrastructure in rural areas of this scale, is a complex task. Every project requires significant planning, resources and time. It includes the coordination of highways, property owners, civil works and advanced fibre-optic technology. The sooner we start, the sooner our future-ready all-glass service will be available. The wider rollout of County Broadbands, funded with tens of millions of pounds of private investment from Aviva Investors, will cover thousands of buildings across eastern England, the company has said. The ISP is expanding its network to 56 villages in south Cambridgeshire, 14 of which are already operational.” Councillor Peter Balicki, Chair of the Hilton Parish Council, said, “Building a new full-fibre broadband network in our village is the only way we can achieve the internet speeds and reliability our residents need and we look forward to working with the County’s teams.”
