Lightning-fast broadband will be delivered to tens of thousands of homes and businesses in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Berkshire after a £58 million contract was signed under the government’s national Project Gigabit rollout.
Independent broadband provider Cityfibre will deliver top-of-the-range full fibre connections to around 34,000 rural premises in the counties which, without government intervention, would have missed out on the industry’s rollout of faster, more reliable ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband.
Full fibre is capable of delivering speeds of up to 1,000 megabits (or one gigabit) per second - up to 30 times faster than superfast connections which rely on traditional copper cables. Gigabit speeds mean households can download a high-definition film in under one minute, stream and download entertainment and shop online across several different devices at once.
The upgrades will help grow the economy and create jobs by making it easier to set up a business, and mean rural communities will have access to networks designed to meet people’s needs for decades to come as the demand for fast connections continues to rise.
Rural communities across the counties will benefit, including those in or surrounding Aylesbury, Beaconsfield, Buckingham, Chesham and Amerhsam and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
Now the contract is signed, Cityfibre will begin detailed surveying work with spades expected to enter the ground from this summer.
Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, said: “We are delighted that our region has been awarded this substantial investment. This will really make a difference to Buckinghamshire households and will provide some of our most rural communities with the digital connectivity they need and currently can’t access. This is great news for residents and businesses alike and we look forward to seeing the programme move forward now the funding is confirmed.”
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