The Only Way Is Essex Broadband: BT Agrees £24.6m BDUK Deal

BT has agreed a £24.6 million deal with Essex County Council that will see it receive yet more government funding from the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) initiative.

The company has promised to extend its existing commercial deployment of fibre in the county to 87 percent of all premises by the end of summer 2016, with all homes and businesses able to access speeds of 2Mbps.

According to Ofcom, the average download speed in Essex is currently 11.5Mbps, while 12.5 percent receive less than 2Mbps. BT will contribute £11.7 million towards the project, while Essex County Council will pay £6.46 million, a figure that has been matched by BDUK.

OMG Essex BDUK

The council said that despite Essex’s close proximity to London, agriculture, marine and woodland industries predominate 72 percent of the county, meaning that rural broadband was an important issue. It says Essex’s 40,000 SMBs, of which 8,000 are IT related, will benefit from the rollout of fibre.

Engineers from BT Openreach will now begin surveying locations for the rollout, with the first properties scheduled to be upgraded in June 2014.

“Now that this contract has been signed we can begin working with BT to build a full picture of the broadband requirements in Essex,” said Essex County Councillor Kevin Bentley, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and Infrastructure. “These upgrades will make a real difference to Essex residents and in particular, businesses that have difficulty trading and communicating online because of slow speeds.

“We want to grow our economy and create an environment for businesses to thrive and grow and better broadband is one of the ways we can help.”

Essex County Council said BT had been chosen following “an extensive and thorough selection process,” but its decision is unsurprising given it is the only participant in the government procurement process after Fujitsu withdrew.

BT has received all of the funding available from BDUK to date, most recently agreeing deals to improve fibre coverage in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Think you know everything about BT? Try our quiz!