70,000 Properties In Devon And Somerset To Receive BDUK Fibre By Summer

The government-funded Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) BDUK project says 70,000 homes and businesses in the two counties will be able to receive superfast broadband by the end of July.

Only last month, CDS said 44,000 properties would be added to the network by the summer, but more exchanges have been added to the £94 million project, with residents able to track which cabinets have gone live by checking the partnership’s websites.

CDS, a partnership between the local authorities of Devon, Torbay, Plymouth, Somerset, North East Somerset, North Somerset and Bath, plans to bring speeds of at least 24Mbps to 90 percent of the regional population by 2016 and speeds of 2Mbps to everyone else.

Fibre rollout

The organisation is seeking additional funds to extend fibre coverage further and also plans to make use of the existing commercial rollout in order to ensure better value for money. The latest areas to benefit from the programme include Braunton, Sowton, Pinhoe, Topsham, Kingskerswell and Swimbridge in Devon and Spaxton and North Petherton in Somerset.

It is also looking to extend fibre in Ilminster and Newton Abbot by making use of the existing commercial rollout in the area, and will attempt to do this in other locations in order to ensure better value for money.

“We are extremely pleased to be able to make this next announcement so soon into the New Year,” says Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth for Devon County Council. “It comes as a result of all the survey work, which has formed so much of the behind the scenes work undertaken last year. Businesses across Devon will now have the chance to grow and develop and compete on a more equal footing with their more urban competitors.”

His counterparts at Somerset County Council are equally delighted, but have highlighted the difficulties involved with the rollout as a result of the recent weather conditions and flooding in the county.

“We are delighted with the progress that has been made so far but clearly the severe flooding in Somerset is posing challenges for the engineering teams who are rolling out the new network,” says Councillor David Hall, Deputy Leader of Somerset County Council. “Connecting Devon and Somerset is working very effectively to deal with these and ensure the roll-out continues at a fast pace. For example, where the flooding is particularly serious we will switch some work to less severely affected areas until the waters subside.”

Last week, the government revealed that 300,000 premises now have access to fibre as a result of BDUK, and expects 40,000 properties to be added to the network every week by the summer.

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