22 February 2018
You may have heard the Government’s announcement earlier this month about the UK reaching a major milestone in its roll-out of superfast broadband across the country.
The Government has ensured superfast broadband (speeds of 24Mbps or more) coverage for over 95% of UK homes and businesses, with more than 27 million homes benefiting since 2009.
This has fulfilled a manifesto pledge to make broadband available in areas classed as ‘not commercially viable’ by broadband providers.
And I am delighted to say that Nottinghamshire is in an even better position.
Thanks to the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire programme, led by the County Council in partnership with BT Openreach, 97.5% of homes and businesses in our area has access to superfast broadband.
Not only is this better than the national average, it’s the best in the East Midlands and means only people living and working in a handful of counties in the whole country have better access to good broadband.
As we become more and more dependent on the internet and technology generally – both at work and at home – this places us in a stronger position to attract new investment, grow our economy and supports the County Council’s primary aim to make Nottinghamshire a great place to live, work and visit.
In total, Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire has seen around £30m invested in the county’s digital infrastructure by the County Council, Government, BT and other partners - a great example of the public and private sectors working effectively together.
This has provided access to superfast broadband for almost 80,000 homes and businesses in Nottinghamshire - premises that otherwise would have been left in the connectivity slow lane. Many of these properties are in our most remote, rural areas.
This is a great achievement, but I know it is of little consolation if you live or work in one of the 2.5% of properties that still does not have superfast broadband access.
Although the properties still to be covered are the most difficult to access, I want to assure you that it remains our commitment to provide superfast broadband access to everyone. As part of our budget proposals for 2018/19, to be considered by councillors on 28 February, we are recommending an additional £2.6m is committed to the continued roll-out of the Better Broadband for Nottinghamshire programme, bringing investment over the next two years up to around £4m.
To find out if your postcode is covered, or if it is part of the programme going forward, you can check on our website www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/broadband
Councillor Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council
