Essex praised as 'top four county' in delivering superfast broadband

The county of Essex has been praised by the UK government for being one of the top four counties in delivering superfast broadband.

The compliment about the county's implementation of broadband services came at a conference hosted by Superfast Essex and was made by Christ Townsend, the chief executive of Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

The SuperConnected conference was set up to showcase the importance of connectivity in the modern world and highlighted Essex as a county where business could and should be done. Over 150 delegates from the county, including representatives from many Essex businesses, UK telecoms companies and digital experts, attended the event. Representatives from broadband providers also attended the conference, where they explained the different technologies involved and services on offer and gave the audience an opportunity for a Q&A session.

Along with broadband and network connectivity being the main topics up for discussion, cloud-based systems were highlighted as a technology for the future of businesses across the UK, with several experts from the industry discussing ways in which various applications can be used to help businesses fully utilise the benefits of the cloud.

Superfast Essex, the company behind the conference, is part of a wider national programme, which is primarily aimed at providing superfast broadband speeds of at least 24 Mbps to as many homes and businesses as is viably and commercially possible. The national programme is on track to ensure 95 per cent broadband coverage by 2019.

BDUK chief executive Chris Townsend said: “Superfast Essex is one of the top four performing counties in the government's Broadband Delivery UK programme, and I congratulate them on the progress of their superfast broadband rollout to date. I'm also impressed with the excellent work they are doing to keep the business community informed about the work going on."

(Image: Kings Sutton)