RURAL areas in Malvern are set to benefit from a multi-million pound Superfast Broadband network connection after Worcestershire County Council received a massive cash injection for the scheme.
Welland, Castlemorton and Birtsmorton are the latest villages in the Malvern district to be announced as beneficiaries of the £20million project, delivered in partnership between the county council and BT, which has been financially boosted with a further £1.1million handed over from the Government.
Superfast Worcestershire officially launched last year meaning an end, for many, of slow internet speeds with the scheme rolling out to more than 90 per cent of the county’s homes and businesses within the next three years.
The scheme aims to deliver download speeds of up to 80mbps – about ten times faster than standard connections.
In August there were scenes of celebration in Malvern when the latest BT cabinet was installed meaning the town’s availability for the fibre optic technology became near perfect.
But now extra funding has been provided by the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) programme and means a further 1,300 premises in more rural areas will be able to access high-speed fibre broadband by June 2016.
Coun Simon Geraghty, responsible for skills, economy and infrastructure at Worcestershire County Council, said: “I am so pleased to be able to confirm this additional funding for Worcestershire which will enable next generation fibre broadband to reach further rural areas.
“Our county-wide scheme is well underway and rollout has already achieved a greater number of cabinet upgrades than had been expected.”
Visit www.superfastworcestershire.com to find out more about the scheme and which areas can receive the connection.
