BT chief executive Gavin Patterson has praised the “outstanding success” of Superfast Cornwall as the partnership revealed its high-speed fibre broadband network was now in place to serve 90 per cent of Cornish homes and businesses.
Take-up of the high-speed technology by Cornish customers is also amongst the best in the UK with about 50,000 either connected or having placed an order, which represents nearly one in five of everybody in the Duchy. Households and businesses are being connected at the rate of more than 2,000 a month.
The BT chief executive was in Cornwall yesterday on a fact-finding visit, meeting leaders of the project and local businesses benefiting from the technology. He also viewed some of the latest examples of the technology, such as ‘ultra light’ overhead fibre optic cables, which can deliver fibre to the premises (FTTP) superfast broadband.
The BT chief executive said: “Superfast Cornwall is proving an outstanding success. It has set the standard for rural areas not only in the UK, but also across the continent. Local authorities and organisations from Europe and even further afield have studied the achievements of the Superfast Cornwall partnership with a view to running their own programmes.”
Nigel Ashcroft, Superfast Cornwall programme director for the Cornwall Development Company, added: “Superfast Cornwall has achieved major successes since it was established in 2010, but we will certainly not be resting on our laurels because there is still much to be done.
“Right from the outset we recognised it wasn’t just about rolling out the technology and that it was essential to do everything possible to help local households and businesses make the most of the technology.
“By end of the year, we will have reached some of England’s most remote locations, including the Isles of Scilly. Through 2014, Superfast Cornwall will continue to set the pace for rural areas in Europe.”
