BT to bring superfast broadband to Iwade residents in Kent

  • July 8, 2010

Around 1,400 homes in Iwade, a village in Kent will get access to super-fast broadband by this Autumn, after the county council and UK’s largest internet service provider, BT have agreed to invest on the fibre to the the cabinet (FTTC) network to deliver up to 40Mbps speeds to the residents here.

The local parish council would provide the intitiative with public fund of around £13,000 received from Kent County Council. With BT’s exchange Sittingbourne which is included for its fibre broadband rollout is not so far from Iwade, the ISP would be able to connect all the premises in the village with its fibre network by further investing of around £62,000, it has been estimated.

Broadband BT has planned to bring high-speed broadband to more than two thirds (66%) of UK homes within next five years by investing over £2.5bn on its nation-wide fibre based broadband network.

However, a third of the UK population, mainly in rural parts, are left behind when it comes to accessing quality broadband. Only one percent of UK population get access to super-fast broadband and more than 3 million do not receive above 2Mbps speeds, the UK Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said last month.

The government has pledged to bring 2Mbps broadband to all by 2012 while homes and businesses in rural Britain are looking to get faster connections so they can get even more out of their broadband connection, many rural communities feel.

One of the government’s plans to bring high-speed broadband to rural areas include opening up BT’s existing broadband network to other service providers to reduce the cost of deployment and improve competition in areas which are not considered economically viable by the the providers.

“BT’s fibre products are available to all UK broadband suppliers on an equal basis. This is an important point as our investment brings competition with it and low prices as a result.” Steve Robertson, chief executive BT Openreach said.

Iwade Parish Council’s Broadband Committee co-ordinator, Nicola McKenzie said that the project would give Iwade residents and businesses the option to sign up to super-fast broadband at such an early stage.

BT said that it is very keen to work with other parts of the country on similar projects. “Our partnership with Iwade is a great example of this,” said the CEO of BT Openreach.