Ninety five per cent of homes and businesses in Cornwall are set to benefit from fibre broadband under the Superfast Cornwall programme, it has been announced.
This figure beats the previous stated prediction that the rollout would make fibre broadband available to “at least 80%”.
BT says it has been able to achieve efficiencies since the programme was launched in 2010, enabling it to set the more ambitious coverage target with its partners. Many of these efficiencies have been achieved through innovations that have been pioneered in the county including the use of lightweight overhead fibre cables.
Openreach chief executive Liv Garfield said: “The Council’s strong focus on extensive fibre coverage for Cornwall and the Scilly Isles is generating great results. We have been able to test run some new innovations in the county and as a result we have delivered efficiencies which are now enabling us to go further than we first thought possible.”
Nigel Ashcroft, Superfast Cornwall programme director for Cornwall Development Company, added: “Superfast Cornwall was designed to bring maximum benefit to the people of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, providing a lasting legacy which would boost the local economy for many years to come. The success of the programme shows what can be achieved when the public and private sectors work effectively together.
“We are not just achieving our ambitions, but finding ways to go even further.”
