£15.5m for superfast broadband in Wiltshire

8:40am Thursday 31st January 2013 in Wiltshire

John Thomson John Thomson

Wiltshire Council has signed a £15.5 million contract with BT to provide superfast broadband across the county.

It is hoped the deal will enable 91 per cent of homes and businesses in Wiltshire to access world-class broadband speeds by March 2016, with over 104,000 homes set to benefit.

A period of planning will now follow the signing, with initial work expected to begin in autumn and the first exchanges to go live in spring next year.

The project aims to see the majority of homes and businesses able to enjoy speeds above 24Mbps and up to 80Mbps.

John Thomson, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for communities, said: “Today’s announcement will see Wiltshire becoming one of the most fibre-enabled counties in the country, after struggling with slower broadband speeds in the past.

"This project will really put the county on the map, attracting more businesses, helping existing ones grow and enabling rural properties to become less isolated.”

The contract was signed in conjunction with South Gloucestershire Council and BT, and includes a £4.6 million investment from Broadband Development UK and £740,000 from the European Regional Development Fund.

Bill Murphy, managing director of Next Generation Broadband from BT Group said: “It’s great to see Wiltshire and South Gloucestershire working in partnership to bring the best possible broadband to their rural communities.

“High speed broadband is critical to attracting new businesses to the area and providing individuals with access to the myriad of new applications and services that are becoming available.

“The good news is that this project will catapult Wiltshire into the broadband fast lane, providing a choice of service provider and a sustained and long term broadband solution for businesses and individuals in rural as well as urban areas.”

Comments(18)

UncleBFG says...
9:20am Thu 31 Jan 13

Will this include the updating of the internet speed for the parts of Derry Hill that are on the Bromham Exchange?

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mobyduck says...
10:49am Thu 31 Jan 13

Superfast? I would just like to achieve a speed near to what BT offer me (ie. up to 8mbs) and not a quarter of that speed. I'm not holding my breath waiting for any improvement in rural villages. How far do they think £15.5 million will go in laying fibre optic cables which is what is needed for superfast broadband.

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candid friend says...
11:27am Thu 31 Jan 13

Seems a sensible move. There a lot of businesses scattered through the rural areas of Wiltshire.
Swindon, because of the large number of businesses, has good internet connections.

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MOZELY says...
4:42pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Why is the tax payer paying 15.5m for something that BT should pay for as a profit making company, they are running a business & make tidy profits from us. Yet again we are being ripped of & no one does anything about it just like the rip of at the fuel pumps our guvournment just brush it under the carpet & ignore us. Oh I forgot the superfast train! they can't even manage the network they've got so who I wonder owns the companies that will get the contracts? I hope someone takes a good close look at that too.
Welcome to rip off Britain!

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goateatingtroll says...
6:46pm Thu 31 Jan 13

MOZELY wrote:
Why is the tax payer paying 15.5m for something that BT should pay for as a profit making company, they are running a business & make tidy profits from us. Yet again we are being ripped of & no one does anything about it just like the rip of at the fuel pumps our guvournment just brush it under the carpet & ignore us. Oh I forgot the superfast train! they can't even manage the network they've got so who I wonder owns the companies that will get the contracts? I hope someone takes a good close look at that too.
Welcome to rip off Britain!
You read the Daily Mail or the express amirite?

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
6:50pm Thu 31 Jan 13

MOZELY said - "Why is the tax payer paying 15.5m for something that BT should pay for as a profit making company, they are running a business & make tidy profits from us."

That doesn't make sense.

As a profit making company do you honestly think BT should provide this service free of charge? Does Tesco buy your groceries for you?

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wondering why says...
8:34pm Thu 31 Jan 13

it's simply a question of priorities, as a business BT would bring fast broadband to the most populous locations first, the "money" "helps" BT bring on line other exchanges more quickly. The detail will be interesting to see regarding who gets the service first and on what basis it was chosen.

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moonraker77 says...
8:34pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
MOZELY said - "Why is the tax payer paying 15.5m for something that BT should pay for as a profit making company, they are running a business & make tidy profits from us."

That doesn't make sense.

As a profit making company do you honestly think BT should provide this service free of charge? Does Tesco buy your groceries for you?
Question: BT wont be providing the service free of charge? Every subscriber might have to pay a fee for using it. They have been given a 'donation' because they could not recoup the cost of installation soon enough to satisfy their profit plan? Food for thought.

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
7:28am Fri 1 Feb 13

"...They have been given a 'donation' because they could not recoup the cost of installation soon enough to satisfy their profit plan..."

Nothing wrong with that.

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MOZELY says...
4:32pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Mrs Donnyfly where do you get for free from? every person or business will pay for the service then BT use that money to invest in the future technology as well as pay there employees etc they recoup there outlay from our subscriptions thats how business works, and to use your terminoligy Tesco fill the shelves from the profit they made from previous sales, I then go and buy items at marked up price they then pay the employees etc & bank the profit. They don't ask wiltshire council for money to fill the shelves. Duh!
And there is plenty wrong with "donation" as you put it BT make billions they should use that. No wonder our country is in such a mess if people can be hoodwinked so easily.

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moonraker77 says...
7:58pm Fri 1 Feb 13

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
"...They have been given a 'donation' because they could not recoup the cost of installation soon enough to satisfy their profit plan..."

Nothing wrong with that.
I presume that you hold BT shares:) A vested interest perhaps?

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
1:05pm Sat 2 Feb 13

moonraker77 wrote:
Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
"...They have been given a 'donation' because they could not recoup the cost of installation soon enough to satisfy their profit plan..."

Nothing wrong with that.
I presume that you hold BT shares:) A vested interest perhaps?
I am in fact Chief Executive of BT, so yes, I do have an interest, but it has nothing to do with my vests.

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moonraker77 says...
1:38pm Sat 2 Feb 13

Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
moonraker77 wrote:
Mrs Donnyfly wrote:
"...They have been given a 'donation' because they could not recoup the cost of installation soon enough to satisfy their profit plan..."

Nothing wrong with that.
I presume that you hold BT shares:) A vested interest perhaps?
I am in fact Chief Executive of BT, so yes, I do have an interest, but it has nothing to do with my vests.
Touche madame:)

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MOZELY says...
8:43pm Sun 3 Feb 13

You might be interested to know that BT's chief executive is Ian Livingston who has awarded himself 1.2 million quid bonus, quite a big chunk of the 15.5 million proposed lump of your council tax. Nice to know it will be spent on such A good cause (gready b*******)

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
11:36pm Sun 3 Feb 13

MOZELY wrote:
You might be interested to know that BT's chief executive is Ian Livingston who has awarded himself 1.2 million quid bonus, quite a big chunk of the 15.5 million proposed lump of your council tax. Nice to know it will be spent on such A good cause (gready b*******)
No, I'm not interested to know that. if hes earning, or paying himself that amount then good luck to him. Envy is such an unpleasant emotion i find.

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moonraker77 says...
6:21pm Mon 4 Feb 13

Mozely: Looks like we're on a loser here even though your reasoning is accurate and without emotion:)
PS: just read that BT have stopped capping broadband download limits, so there is some consolation.

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
7:48am Tue 5 Feb 13

"..(gready b*******).."

No emotion there, eh?

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moonraker77 says...
3:06pm Tue 5 Feb 13

I would call it an observation or qualification. Better to understand the whole picture rather than go off at a tangent..

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