Hundreds of homes and businesses in north-east Essex can now access gigabit speeds after local provider County Broadband extended its multi-million pound full-fibre network to a further nine villages.
Backed by a combined £146m private investment from Aviva Investors, the Essex-based community provider has pledged to connect half a million rural premises across the East of England to full-fibre broadband by 2027 to help drive economic growth and investment.
The live villages are: Frating, Helions Bumpstead, Hempstead, Langham, Pleshey, Woodham Mortimer, Woodham Walter, Little Maplestead, and Barnston.
County Broadband is in the process of connecting individual properties in the villages to the full-fibre network, which delivers 11x faster speeds and greater reliability compared to the existing ‘superfast’ copper-cased infrastructure that the government has said is no longer fit for purpose.
County Broadband specialises in building full-fibre broadband networks in rural areas which have often been overlooked by other providers.
James Salmon, director of sales and new territories at County Broadband, said: “We are pleased to welcome nine more villages on our doorstep to our full-fibre network. We’ve already started connecting homes and businesses and many more will be coming online over the coming weeks.
“Whilst we were just about managing with the Victorian copper-based networks, the pandemic was a real game-changer and sharply demonstrated our reliance on broadband for work, education and entertainment. Simply put, the demand for data is outpacing what the existing networks can supply.
“That’s why we’ve been investing tens of millions of pounds to build full-fibre networks and provide the speeds we need not only today, but for the years ahead.
“As the region bounces back from the pandemic, digital connectivity will be the foundation for driving productivity and growth. But these complex infrastructure projects cannot be completed overnight which is why we must start now. Essex is where we began and we will continue to grow our network in the county so more homes and businesses can benefit from lightning-fast speeds.”
Councillor Lynda McWilliams, Tendring District Council ward member for Frating, said: “Full-fibre broadband is an essential tool for businesses and many residents, especially as we continue to develop and embrace home-working and sometimes education.
“I therefore welcome this investment by County Broadband which connects Frating to UK-leading broadband access, and supplements similar investment made by Tendring District Council to ensure the district as a whole does not get left behind.”
Full-fibre broadband uses fibre-to-the-premises (FTTP) infrastructure where fibre optic cables are installed directly into the premises, providing download and uploads speeds of 1,000 Mbps. It replaces fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) copper-based infrastructure on which ‘Superfast’ is based.
County Broadband, based in Aldham near Colchester, was founded in 2003. It has grown to 170 employees since 2018 and has plans to become a 270-strong workforce by Christmas 2022. The local company is recruiting for positions in network operations, customer services and other departments. Visit careers.countybroadband.co.uk for more details.
