Superfast Dorset Reveals First BDUK Fibre Locations

The government-funded £31.87 million Superfast Dorset project has announced that Bridport, Charmouth and Chideock will be the first communities to benefit from its rollout of fibre in the county and it expects the first connections to be made in June.

The first phase of the programme will see 10,000 homes and businesses which are not covered by the commercial rollout of superfast broadband connected to the Openreach fibre network, which will also be extended to areas of Weymouth, Verwood and Ferndown not already covered by BT.

BDUK Dorset

Superfast Dorset eventually expects to bring superfast broadband coverage to 95 percent of the county’s population, with areas where fibre is not considered an option able to receive speeds of at least 2Mbps.

“This initial phase of work will make a huge difference to a lot of people, especially residents and businesses in Bridport who will have access to the fibre network for the first time,” says Councillor Spencer Flower, Leader of Dorset County Council. “Research shows Dorset people want to be able to watch TV and films online, work from home more easily, buy and sell online and find out about local services. Faster, more reliable broadband connections will enable them to do all this more easily.”

Dorset councils are providing £9.44 million towards the project, a figure that has been matched by the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) initiative, and BT is paying £12.87 million.

The government claims that more than 300,000 premises have been connected to fibre thanks to the BDUK to date, with projects in Devon, Somerset, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire all revealing the locations of the first properties in their region to benefit from the rollout.

What do you know about fibre broadband?