Superfast broadband early rollout for East Cornwall

Superfast broadband is coming to nine communities in East Cornwall at least three months early as the first major phase of the pioneering Superfast Cornwall initiative kicks off ahead of schedule.

The high-speed technology is expected to start to become available in Liskeard, Callington, Launceston, Dobwalls, Bude, Kilkhampton, Marhamchurch (near Widemouth Bay), Drakewalls (near Gunnislake) and North Hill (near Coads Green) by December.

None of these areas had previously been due to 'go live' before the end of March 2012 - and Dobwalls had actually been scheduled for 2013.

The upgrading of the nine communities is just the beginning of the first major phase of the roll-out, which will see the high-speed technology becoming available to a total of 90,000 Cornish homes and businesses by the end of March.

Superfast Cornwall, the partnership between BT, the European Union, Cornwall Council and Cornwall Development Company responsible for constructing the new network, has dubbed the huge engineering operation the 'Big Build'. The Big Build includes the laying of 130,000 kilometres of optical fibre, the upgrading of 100 telephone exchanges and the installation of about 500 new green roadside cabinets to make Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly one of the best connected places in the world.

Chris Ridgers, the portfolio holder for economy and regeneration for Cornwall Council, said: “We have been committed to starting the first main phase of the superfast broadband roll-out in the east of Cornwall, and I’m delighted that it’s coming sooner than previously expected to these communities.

“This is great news – it will give local businesses a much deserved boost and help the economy of south east Cornwall at a crucial time of the year.”

Nigel Ashcroft, programme director of Superfast Cornwall for Cornwall Development Company, said: "To build a fibre optic broadband network on this scale is a massive undertaking, never before attempted in such a rural location. The Big Build represents the biggest single investment in the Cornish telecoms infrastructure since it was first constructed. Of course, this won't happen overnight - it will take more than three years to roll-out this exciting programme to all 250,000 premises in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, and this announcement shows we are making an excellent start on the first phase."

For more information on Superfast Cornwall, please see their website or click here.