Telford achieves 98 per cent FTTC superfast broadband coverage

Telford and Wrekin Council in Shropshire, in partnership with Openreach, has announced the completion of a £5.6 million project that saw the rollout of FTTC based superfast broadband across 98 per cent of the homes and businesses in the region.

Delivered separately to the wider internet rollout in Shropshire, the Superfast Telford project has extended Openreach's fibre-based broadband network over an additional 9,000 homes and commercial premises in the region.

While 98 per cent of homes and businesses have achieved 24Mbps speeds as part of the project, the percentage of premises able to access minimum broadband speeds of 15Mbps has also increased to 99 per cent.

The Council's management of the project is also thought to have boosted the percentage of people taking up the option for upgrade, with 37 per cent of homes and commercial premises opting to boost their internet.

Kim Mears, Openreach's MD of Infrastructure Development, agreed that the project's success in attracting take up had helped ensure it was a worthwhile pursuit for the council.

"Due to the successful partnership with Superfast Telford, we’ve now achieved our target of making the technology available to 98 per cent of the borough’s households and businesses," she said, "and our engineering teams are close to completing the final upgrades."

Also commenting on the success of the region's FTTC rollout, Councillor Hilda Rhodes, Cabinet Member for Broadband, suggested that it is expected to have a significant impact on the way people live, work and socialise.

"Superfast Telford has been a great success story for the borough and I’m delighted we have such positive outcomes from our significant initial investment, which positions us ahead of our neighbouring authorities," She said. "In the meantime, we’re working hard to find cost-effective solutions to make the faster broadband available to the premises not already covered."