Superfast broadband arrives in Tipton
Superfast fibre broadband has arrived in the East Devon village of Tipton St John.
It’s part of a rollout programme by Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS).
More than 315 households and businesses can now benefit from fibre broadband after the installation of the first street fibre broadband cabinet serving the centre of the village.
The CDS programme aims to make superfast broadband speeds of 24Mbps and above available to around 90 per cent of Devon and Somerset homes and businesses by the end of 2016.
East Devon MP Hugo Swire praised the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme for hitting “ambitious targets” for the rollout of fibre broadband in the region.
Speaking on a visit to the broadband cabinet in Tipton St John, Mr Swire said: “It’s brilliant to see Tipton St John as the latest East Devon community to be connected.
“Children, parents, grandparents and businesses all benefit from fibre broadband and I want to see Tipton St. John as symbolic of why we want to encourage people to stay on in this part of Devon and enjoy the same benefits and speeds of urban areas, whilst bringing up their families in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.”
In the two counties, 872 street cabinets have now been connected to the fibre broadband network by the CDS partnership, which means more than 195,000 premises now have access to fibre broadband as a result of this ambitious programme.
Local villager Dianne Mann owns a holiday let business in the village and is one of the first residents in the area to benefit from the rollout.
She said: “As a rural business operating from home, poor internet connection has always limited our incentive to modernise, but thanks to Connecting Devon and Somerset we can now take our operations online.
“Thanks to the stable connection, the ability to work from home has greatly improved.”
Devon County Council’s Cabinet member for economy and growth, Cllr Andrew Leadbetter, said: “The Connecting Devon and Somerset project to build a fibre network around the county is on schedule, literally connecting the county to the world.
“This is a significant step for Tipton St John. The benefits superfast broadband can bring are enormous – more and more, we find that people are reliant on high speeds for business and home life and we’re ahead of the curve in being able to offer this.
“We recognise that a small number of residents in the village are still unable to connect to the service. There is still a lot of work to do, but we hope the next phase of the programme will increase coverage further.”
Paul Coles, BT’s South West regional manager, said: “More than 390,000 Devon households and businesses now have access to fibre broadband as a result of the Connecting Devon and Somerset programme and BT’s own commercial rollout – and the number is continuing to grow rapidly.”
Local Devon county councillor, Cllr Claire Wright, said: “The Connecting Devon and Somerset programme, through Devon County Council, is now really taking off and linking up many villages to faster broadband.
“Tipton St John residents have been waiting patiently for faster broadband speeds and it is brilliant news that they have now been connected. Many people work from home across Ottery Rural – as in other parts of Devon – and superfast broadband is vital to the growth of the local economy.”
Visit here for more information and to read the latest details about the Connecting Devon and Somerset rollout.
