A county council partnership programme is supporting businesses to potentially access some of the fastest broadband speeds in the country.
Today’s Which? report into national broadband speeds placed Tamworth as being the best in the country for being able to connect to fast broadband speeds, with an average of 30.4 megabits per second (mbps).
Most of Tamworth is connected through commercial provision, but some of the borough’s business parks are connected as a result of the Superfast Staffordshire programme. This is a partnership between the county council, BT and the Government’s BDUK. Lichfield Road Industrial Estate, Tame Valley Industrial Estate and Calico Business Park in Amington are among those now able to connect to superfast broadband through the scheme.
Staffordshire County Council’s economic growth leader Mark Winnington said: “Access to superfast broadband is now vital to communities and businesses and so it’s pleasing to see that Tamworth has been named as the best place in the country for ability to connect to the fastest speeds. Our Superfast Staffordshire programme has enabled businesses in Tamworth to access fibre broadband that can really make a difference to their operations and boost productivity. It is complementing the commercial provision that covers most of the borough, meaning the vast majority can connect. We are continuing our drive to ensure people across Staffordshire can enjoy the same speeds as Tamworth and are working to find solutions to the four per cent of properties our programme is currently unable to reach.”
The Superfast Staffordshire programme is funded by a £7.4million investment by the county council, £7.4million from BDUK and £12.5million from BT. When combined with commercial roll-out, it will result in 96 per cent of Staffordshire properties being able to connect to fast fibre broadband. The partnership is working continually to find solutions to enable the final four per cent to connect.
People can find out more at www.superfaststaffordshire.co.uk