Residents of Brent Knoll and East Brent are close to victory in their campaign to bring ultrafast broadband to their villages.
Slow Internet connection speeds affect some residents in the area, and therefore a campaign is underway to push for Ultrafast Broadband to be rolled out.
Brent Knoll resident Steve Baggs, who is running the campaign, says: “In rural areas, an upgrade to full fibre broadband is often not economically viable, however ‘Building Digital UK’, a part of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, can make funds available through a scheme called ‘Project Gigabit’.”
“Under the scheme, a voucher is made available for each home or business which commits to taking a full fibre Internet connection if it becomes available. When enough people have made a commitment, the vouchers can be used to fund the building of the new fibre network.”
In the Brent Knoll area, Openreach has set up a demand-led Fibre Community Partnership covering homes and business premises in the Brent Knoll exchange.
In order to qualify for funding, the community has to get a commitment from 125 households or businesses to sign up for Ultrafast Broadband if the scheme goes ahead.
The campaign reached 75% of the target in the first week, and by Saturday it was up to 91%.
Steve told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The number of people pledging vouchers in the first week shows the strength of demand.”
”People who work from home or make frequent use of the Internet will obviously benefit from Ultrafast Broadband, but so will those who are not heavy users but suffer from a slow or unreliable connection because of where they live.”
“If just 19 more people make that commitment we will reach our target, and we can look forward to fast and reliable Internet connections being available throughout the two villages.”
People wishing to take part in the scheme should go to www.openreach.com/connectmycommunity and enter their postcode to check that they are eligible. They can then enter their details to ensure that their Gigabit Voucher goes towards the project.
Once the fibre rollout is complete, subscribers will be expected to order Ultrafast connections through their chosen broadband supplier. Openreach aim to complete the rollout within 12 months of the award of vouchers being confirmed.
Full details of the voucher scheme are here and a copy of the campaign leaflet is here. You can check progress with the registrations by going here and entering any Brent Knoll or East Brent postcode (you won’t be committing to anything).
